My Darling Secret On Hold
by BigFan1150
Summary: James is paid to kill. Renesmee's half vampire. Nico's part god. Gale's heart was removed. Penny killed her brother. Ian has a secret sibling.  The winner's secret is safe.  The losers won't dare to show their faces in public again.  Good luck, my darling
1. Intro & Preface

**PLEASE READ BELOW VERY IMPORTANT!**

**Hello dear readers! This is a giant crossover, including POVs the characters:**

**Gale-The Hunger Games**

**Renesmee-The Twilight Saga**

**Nico Di Angelo-Percy Jackson series**

**Ian-Pretty Little Liars**

**Julie-Desperate Housewives**

**James-Harry Potter**

**For those of you who have read all of these and all of the series, you may ignore everything else in bold between the giant lines. If you've read all of these books but don't watch Desperate Housewives, you may ignore all bold and continue as well.**

**Most of you probably haven't read/watched all these books/movies, but that's ok! I'll try and make it easy enough for you to understand.**

**For those of you who are halfway through one of these series, in the bold section at the top of each chapter, I'll put 'Spoilers' or 'Spoiler Warning' or something. Read the info under there. If there's anything important in the chapter, At the bottom of the page there will be a summary of the chapter in bold. **

**For those of you who have never read the series and don't plan on it, at the top of the page I might explain the character and his/her relationship under the label 'Nonreaders' or 'Explanation' or something. These **_**might**_** contain spoilers, but they'll probably be really vague. **

**Most of these will probably have little to do with the actual series/book and wont be too hard to understand.**

**One more thing. I hate on Fanfiction how the Summary's are so incredibly short. Here's the full Summary. **

**Summary**:

Welcome to My Darling Secret!

When secrets are on the brim of being told, passion flares, anger erupts, people become desperate, foolish girls and boys fall in love.

Nico Di Angelo is part god

Kate used to be a stripper.

Renessmee's part vampire

Ian has a sibling secret of his own.

Julie killed her brother.

James is paid to kill

Gale had his heart removed

CJ made contact with the devil

Natalie sees ghosts.

I know the secrets.

You complete the challenge, your secret's safe.

But if you loose….

Say goodbye to your darling secret.

All righty! Please read and enjoy this!

**Preface:**

_In the lovely state of Florida, letters were being copied, personalized, and sent out to different places all over the country, and even the world._

_One letter was sent to California, near Universal Studios._

_Another was sent to California, San Diego, a city full of casinos and bars._

_One was sent to the boring state of Iowa._

_There was one sent to the dark city of Delani, in Alaska._

_Two were sent to the bustling New York City._

_One was sent to the magical world of England._

_And one was sent to a far, far, away place, only known as District 2._

_As each of the recipients of these letters read them, their hopes grew._

_Maybe this was their chance._

_Their chance to become rich, famous, loved, and adored._

_Maybe this was their chance to put behind their deep, devious, darling secrets and move on with their life_

_And maybe it wasn't…_


	2. Chapter 1James

**Alrighty! First Chap! XD**

**James is Harry's Son from Harry Potter**

**Spoiler Alert:**** The name of who Harry married and his children**

**Nonreaders: ****Harry Potter is about magical wizards who carry wands to perform magic. So if I use the term 'wand' I don't mean anything perverted. I mean in literal sense their magic wand. **

**James**

"James, time to go!" I sighed, kicking my suitcase lightly. I smiled. Finally I'd get out of this house. I picked up my suitcase and walked out the door, locking it with a key behind me. "Hey bro, cya on the big screen." My brother Albert said punching my arm playfully once I hauled my suitcase downstairs. I smiled at him, frowning on the inside. "Oh James." My mother Ginny Potter said, pulling my into a big hug. "I'll miss you so much. Write occasionally, ok? Mr. Firdango assured me that they had owls there, so I expect a letter every week." "Of course mom, and I'm only going to be gone for a month or two. Relax." My mom tended to over react about _everything._"Ginny, come here for a second." My dad called from his study. "Coming Harry." She called, leaving the room. "Well guess your leaving." I spun around to find my little sister Lily leaning against the wall, chewing gum. Her mouth kept cracking on her gum, making my ears bleed in agony. I ignored her, examining a tag on my suitcase. It read, VIP member-My Darling Secret. "Guess your rooms mine." She said. I smiled to myself. "I locked it." I heard her crack her gum again. "Ah, but I have the key." My head snapped up at her, and indeed in her hand she was twirling a spare key. "Lily!" I screamed as she ran. "I'm going to kill you!" I heard her clap her hands together, once, in her imitation of a slap. She yelped. My mom chose that moment to come out of my father's den, with my father behind her. Lily was holding her arm, gasping. "He hit me." She said. I wanted to yell at them, tell them she was faking it. But I knew it was no use. They always believed her. "James Sirius Potter! You can't be good for a minute can you! You can't hit a girl!" My mother gasped. My dad sighed and rubbed his forehead. "When you get back you'll be in trouble. But for now, lets forget about it." When they got back they wouldn't bother me about it. I would make sure of that. They would be so proud of me, after I won the reality show I was going to. No longer would neighbors come up to them and say, "Oh Mr. and Mrs. Potter, what a beautiful sweet daughter you have." or, "What a smart boy Albert is!" They would say "What a talented man James is. You must be so proud to have a son like him." And they would be. They would be proud of me. Lily sniffed and looked up at me. "Farewell James. Have fun on TV." She came and gave me a hug, pinching my neck. I winced. She grinned at me and left the room. I heard the doorbell ring. My dad walked to the main hall. That left me alone with my mother, who was glaring at me. I opened my mouth to speak but my dad's voice called "James it's for you! You're leaving!" My parents hugged me at the door. "Did you remember all your clothes? Extra boxers? Remember to write. And ask Mr. Firdango if he can call us. And remember to take your allergy meds. …" My mother nagged on and on. "For emergencies." My father whispered in my ear, slipping something in my pocket. I grinned, realizing what it was. My wand. After final hugs and more remembers a man in a grey suit led me out to a black limo. I grinned. This was something I could get used to.


	3. Chapter 2  CJ

**Oh, I forgot last chapter to say: All rights go to the authors. **

**This is a character I made up, so all rights to me! XD**

**CJ:**

"Hurry up! They'll be here to pick me up any minute!" I screamed downstairs to some of my maids. I watched as they scurried to get my suitcases by the door. I sighed and went back inside my room, closing the door shut and pressing myself against it. I smiled sexily at my boyfriend, Thomas. He was on the bed where I left him. This would be the last I'd see him for a while, and I was trying to make a point of goodbye. His shirt was off, showing off his tanned and muscular abs. His jeans were unzipped, courtesy of me. There was no question why he was the hottest guy in our school. "Now, where were we?" I asked him, slowly, as if I had a hard time remembering. I took off my shirt, revealing a thin lacy bra. I jumped on him and we started making out. He groaned against me, and then pulled off my shorts. I watched in delight as his eyes nearly popped out. I wasn't wearing any underwear.

Thomas and I pulled apart as the doorbell rang. His eyes were a little glazed as his eyes raked my naked body. I pulled on new clothes and he sighed, getting up from my incredibly soft King sized bed. He pulled on his clothing, following me out the door. I was wearing a button down tight white shirt, which was slightly see-through but professional looking. I had put on a short pink skirt, laced with flowers. A man was at the front door, waiting for me. He was wearing a grey suit. Other men dressed in identical grey suits picked up my bags and heaved them outside. "CJ Allen?" The man said. I smiled and extended my hand for him to shake. "That's me. Are you Mr. Firdango?" He smiled and laughed, pleased. "No, no, I'm just hear to bring you to Mr. Firdango." He already liked me, I could tell. He was obviously **not**Mr. Firdango. His hair was short and had _way_ too much hair product, his skin was scattered with acne. I had only said that because I knew it would please him. "I will be waiting outside, for you, Ms. CJ." He told me. I nodded. Thomas had his hands behind him, he wouldn't look at my eyes, and he was blushing a little. I wrapped my arms around him, then kissed his cheek softly. "I'll see you soon Thomas." He kissed me back, on the lips. "I love you." He told me. "That was fun. Lets do it again when I get back." I whispered in his ear. His face turned red. I smiled, turned and waved at him, showing off my fresh French manicure. I walked out the door, the sun shining on my incredibly beautiful face. The man who had talked to me at the door was waiting by the car, which was a limo. Nice, but it wasn't a Royal's Royce. I walked up to him, smiled as he opened the door for me, and got in. I smiled to myself as we started driving. Heading for a TV show where I could possibly win $1,000,000,000? Check. Lost virginity to the hottest boy in school? Check. Coolest chick in school? Oh yes check. My life was perfect.


	4. Chapter 3 Kate

**All rights to me again! XD **

**Kate:**

I watched the view get smaller and smaller as the Private jet I was on left California. No, I was not rich, and normally I would not be on a plane, definitely not a jet, and especially not a private jet. But this was not normally. I was leaving to Florida, where I would later be part of a reality show called My Darling Secret. The winner would receive a cool 1 billion, which was a lot. I don't care how rich you are, you cant deny a billion is a lot of money. And my family needed the money. I closed my mind, blocking out unwanted images of the desperate thing I had done for money a year ago. I looked down at the invitation to the show in my hand.

**Hello Kate Sandazaki!**

**My name is Allen Firdango, and I am hosting a brand new reality show called My Darling Secret.**

**You will meet up with other kids from around the world. You will be competing with them in several challenges, which will later be shown on Television! If you win the entire competition, you will get a prize of one billion dollars.**

**I will send a car and jet to take you to Florida, where you will meet the rest of the kids who will be competing against you. After a week of relaxing and getting used to things, we will fly to the location of the first challenge.**

**I have attached a sheet of rules, copyright, contracts, and rights for the show. Please read and sign them. I hope you consider joining the show!**

**With regards,**

**-Allen Firdango**

A few hours later the plane landed at an airport in Florida. I got off, men in grey suits taking my belongings and following me off the plane. They set my bags down in the waiting area. "Soon a man will come here to help you bring your bags to your location. For now wait here. I think some of the other kids from the show are here. I thanked him and he left. I looked around. At the far end of the airport was a lady old enough to be a grandmother and a little boy. The boy was playing with an airplane while the old lady was asleep. He fell, and hit the lady's leg. I watched as she woke and snapped at him. He got up with a hurt look on his face. Near me there was a girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, long eyelashes, and pink perfect lips. Her makeup was perfect, her white blouse see-through. Her skirt was short and guys passing by stared at her, their countenance looking like they were in Heaven. Oblivious, she starred down at her cell phone, texting wildly. Across from her, there was a girl with straight brown hair, baby-perfect skin, dark lips, and cat-like green eyes. Her eyebrows were a perfect narrow arch, and she wore eyeliner and mascara. She was sitting across from the blonde girl, frowning, her arms crossed. Next to the blonde was a guy with brown hair, chlorine blue eyes, and pale lips. His oddly shaped eyebrows fit his face. I thought he reminded me of someone but I couldn't be sure whom. He looked humored in some way, and his eyes were full of mystery. I walked over to them and sat down next to the brown haired girl, across from the brown haired guy. "Hi, I'm Kate. I'm part of the My Darling Secret cast. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" I asked. The guy shook his head smiling. "Nothing at all." The blonde rolled her eyes and waked his arm. "We're part of the cast too. I'm CJ. Where you from?" "San Diego, California." I stated. "You?" "New York City." CJ sniffed. "England." The guy said. "New York City. I'm Natalie." The brunette girl told me. I nodded. Now that I thought about it, the guy did sound British. "So you two are both from New York City? Where exactly? Maybe you guys live near each other." I said, trying to keep up a conversation. Awkward silences bothered me. "Oh we know each other." CJ grinned at Natalie. Natalie glared at her. By the looks they were giving each other, I knew better than to ask them anything else.


	5. Chapter 4 Nico

All rights to Rick Riordan

**No Spoilers**

**Non Readers: Nico Di Angelo is part Greek god, his dad is Hades, God of the Underworld**

**Nico:**

I walked into the airport with a single suitcase. As I went to go sit down in the waiting area the man in the grey suit instructed me too, a blonde came up to me. Her hair was naturally highlighted with light blond streaks, while the rest of her hair was much darker. Her eyebrows were light and her skin pale. She was tall and had a perfect body. Her eyes shinned, and her lips were light and perfect. I wanted to kiss her. I was startled by that thought. I had never really wanted to kiss someone. "Hey! I'm Kate. Your part of the My Darling Secret cast, right?" I nodded, too stunned to speak. "Perfect. Come on were all sitting over here." She led me to a small group and sat down with them. One was a bitchy looking blond, one a brunette with glittering dark cat eyes that stuck out, one a tanned guy. I sat down in the nearest seat, next to Kate. The blonde looked up at me smiling, which I guess was supposed to look sexy, but when she saw me she stopped and looked back down at her cell phone. The brunette girl smiled at me wearily. A guy with thin black hair walked over and opened his mouth to speak. Instead the brunette and blond asked "My Darling Secret?" at the same time. The blonde was smiling sweetly at him while the brunette seemed bored. They glared at each other as they realized they said it at the same time. He nodded and sat next to me, looking a bit stunned. I caught him staring at the blonde. She finally put her cell down and smiled at us all. "Ok so I guess it's time for introductions! I'm CJ." "Ian." The black haired guy said, seemingly bored. "Natalie." The brunette stated quickly. "Kate." "Nico." I said, introducing myself. 3 kids walked up to us. One was a boy with dark black hair and something missing in his eyes. The other was a shy looking girl with curly blonde hair and a petite looking face. The third was a girl with a petite face and red hair. The girls were laughing at something the guy said. "My darling secret?" The guy asked. His voice was deep and relaxed. CJ smiled prettily at him. "Yep. Join the family." They all sat down. There was something strange about the guy. He regarded everyone…differently. "I'm Gale." He told us. "Penny." The blonde told us. "Renessmee." stated the redhead. We all introduced ourselves, ending with me. "And I am your chaffer." A voice said. I spun around to find a man in a black suit with twinkling eyes staring at us. He smiled, and his hands were behind his back. "I'm to take you to Mr. Firdango." CJ stood up and smiled at him. "For the show My Darling Secret?" She asked. The man smiled. "The one and only. Follow me." He led us outside to a car that looked like a stretch between a limo and taxi. We all climbed inside. "Tell me all your names again." The man said. We went around, telling our names. I ended again. "Nico? What an interesting name. And you have such perfect features, aren't you a lucky boy. You must have beautiful, wonderful parents. A gift from the gods eh?" I frowned when he said that. "Julia do you have any siblings?" She nodded. "I have a little sister, and I had two older brothers who are twins. Well…one of them died." The man gasped. "Oh how terrible. Your parents must be grief stricken from his murder." He said. Julia gapped. "Sir, I don't think I said he was murdered…" "Oh I'm sorry, I thought you did." He said coolly. She clenched her mouth. "So tell me about yourselves." He said. "I'm CJ Allen. I'm an only child, have an awesome boyfriend, a lot of best friends, and this annoying girl in my neighborhood who wont leave me alone." CJ chattered. When she said boyfriend, a few guys frowned. "Well speak of the devil! I hate stalkers." The man said cheerily. CJ's eyes popped. "James where are you from?" The man continued. "England." He said. "Oh? Where did you go to private, public, or boarding school?" "Boarding School." James answered immediately. "Oh I love boarding school! I remember mine quite well. We were separated into houses, and we had our rooms with our house. I learned so much. It was a magical experience."

James's face turned uneasy. The man stopped his car at a large magnificent building. It seemed to be made up of colored glass, and mimicking bricks the glass was shaped in triangles. It kind of reminded me of the city of Oz out of the Wizard of Oz. We all got out of the car. The man led us inside. "Excuse me sir, when are we to meet Mr. Firdango?" CJ called to him. He turned to us and smiled. "I'm sorry, I forgot to mention. I am Mr. Firdango. Welcome to My Darling Secret."


	6. Chapter 5 Penny

**This is a character from Desperate Housewives, there's really nothing you need to know about her.**

**Rights to DH creaters.**

**Penny:**

We were all taken to our own rooms. The rooms were huge, with King sized beds, Jacuzzis in the bathroom, huge closets and mirrors, a basket of food, and a menu for room service and directions to the pool, massage room, and spa. Holly, this was gonna be nice.

"We'll be starting the first challenge in 3 days." Mr. Firdango told us. After a week of being pampered, he held a meeting to give us some instructions for the challenges. "The restrictions are as far as your own restrictions go. You can't do anything illegal, of course, so no murders!" Mr. Firdango smiled at me, and I felt sick. "I have given you all letters, and they are in your rooms." After Mr. Firdango was done explaining our challenge, I left to my room and opened the letter he mentioned, which was on my bed.

**Welcome to My Darling Secret!**

**Here's how everything works:**

**If you win the challenge, you have a pass straight to the next level.**

**If you loose, your fellow companions might vote you off.**

**If your not voted off, you go to the next level.**

**If you are voted off, then you will go home.**

**And along with going home, your darling secret will be told.**

**Yes, I know.**

**I know you killed your brother. That's illegal. Win this competition, or the cops will be at your house when you go home.**

**Good Luck,**

**Allen Darling Firdango.**

I gasped, my chest squeezing in pain. I tried to remember how to breathe. He knew. Someone knew. They figured it out. Someone saw me. He knew. He knew my secret.


	7. Chapter 6 CJ

**CJ:**

"Mr. Firdango?" I asked sweetly. "May I come in?" "Yes CJ." He called. I stepped into his office. It was warm and smelled like spicy pumpkin and windex. The place was very clean, everything in it's place. Mr. Firdango didn't look up at me, he was signing and reading several papers at once, with little glasses on. I took a deep breath, and turned on all the charm I had. "About that nice little letter you sent me," I leaned down and lowered my voice. I really wished he would look up at me. My charm was only effective with eye contact. "You really can't tell anyone my secret. Please. I'll play my best in your game, and I'll be damned if I don't win, but no one can know this secret." "Then I hope you win for your sake." I sighed. I wasn't going to give up this easily. "And don't try your little devil charm. I'm not affected by it." Ok, that difficulted things a bit. Time to try a different approach. "Mr. Firdango, we all have secretes." "Yes, we do." He agreed. "Then please, how would you feel if your secret was revealed? Please, I can't loose this secret." He shook his head. "I'm sorry." Ok new approach. "Look, if my secretes told, not only will my life be ruined, my parents will throw me on the street and I'll starve and die." "Then you better win." Ok, last chance. "Listen mister," I said bending down. "I have a lawyer and I will fricken sue your deceiving as-" "No. You cant. You singed the contract." I gapped. "I signed…" He nodded. "The contract you signed. It states that you can't sue me for anything. But I will give money for any accidental deaths." I stood there, gapping. Someone had outsmarted me. That hadn't happened for…ever since…

"See you on the set." I waited a few seconds, but it was apparent he wasn't going to listen to me anymore. I turned and strode out the door, furious.


	8. Chapter 7 Natalie

**Natalie is a character I made up. **

**Natalie:**

I read over the letter again, just to make sure I hadn't misread. I reread it again, and again, over a million times, just to make sure it was correct. I groaned and crumpled the letter up, throwing it in the corner. Suddenly I was afraid someone would find it, read it, and…. Oh no. I snatched it up and ripped it into tiny pieces, then poured water over it and placed it in my trash. I groaned, suddenly very aware that I could have used that as proof he was blackmailing me. I fell onto my giant bed, which had at first seemed perfect, but now it seemed too soft, as if it was swallowing me up.

**I know you see ghosts. How will that affect your life if everyone else knows? Loose My Darling Secret, and everyone will know your secret. Not just me.**

His words echoed in my ears. How could he possibly know? I never told a single soul. Never. I sighed and put the list down. I had seen ghosts ever since I was little.

"Come now hun." My dresser cooed to me. Ya, apparently we had to be in uniform for this challenge. My dresser was an old lady with grey long hair, who's assistant was a boy who looked around 6. Great, now I would go on TV looking like crap.

The lady and boy played with my hair and makeup. I couldn't see what they were doing to me, which made me pissed and fearful.

After what seemed like an hour, the lady led me over to a mirror. I almost gasped at the image staring back at me. I looked…beautiful.

My skin was gleaming and white from powder, making me look deadly. My green eyes stuck out from eyeliner, my eyebrows seemed perfectly arched. My lips were lined with dark lipstick, and they seemed to laugh teasingly. My plain brown hair looked highlighted with reddish blonde streaks, and it was so perfectly even throughout. My required outfit was of black tight jeans, perfectly soft and washed. My shirt was tight, white, and a button down. Part of the outfit was a tight bracelet around my wrist, which had black thin lines crawling up my arm. I smiled at myself in the mirror, my lips looking smug and playful. "You like?" The lady asked. "No." I answered. "Love."

I was the last one to enter the room where everyone was waiting. The room was cream colored and rounded, the wall in little squares. I looked around me. Everyone looked great. Julie's hair curled around her pale face perfectly, that Nico guy looked flawless and almost Asian, and…ugh. CJ. Of course she looked better than me, better than everyone. Her eyelashes were maximized and her blue sparkling eyes shinned. Her lips were smug as always, her skin glowed with color and health. Her blond hair curled around her heart shaped face, making her look cute, sweet, dirty, and innocent, all at the same time. I hated her, I hated her so much. She stole everything from me.

Mr. Firdango walked into the room, dressed in his daily expansive black suit. "Hello to everyone. Ready for your first challenge?" He asked. "No." Nico muttered. I snorted softly. Mr. Firdango ignored us and continued on. "The first challenge is a little race I set up for you. I'm going to stick you in the middle of a maze, and all you have to do is get through it, retrieve the flag for you and your partner, and get out of the maze. "Partner?" CJ asked. "Oh yes. I almost forgot to mention. For this challenge you'll be in teams of two, one group of three. On to my next thing, assigning groups." He smiled at us and took out a peace of paper. I prayed over and over CJ and I wouldn't be in a group. "James and Ian, Nico and Kate, Gale, Natalie, and Renesmee, and CJ and Penny." Ok good. I wasn't with CJ. I looked over at my teammates. Gale's dark long hair fell in his handsome face. His hair was all messed up; as if the styler's had wanted to say 'I get up and win game shows every morning for breakfast.' Renesmee's red hair curled around her face perfectly, her lips were turned to a perfect pale color, and her naturally white skin glowed. Her eyes glittered if you looked at her the right way. She had always struck me as inhumanly beautiful, but now she seemed even more dazzling.

A guy in a grey suit led Gale, Renesmee, and me to our own private jet. We all sat down in the back room, which had 4 chairs and a table with shrimp and some kind of fruity cocktail. "Nice. Shrimp." Gale said, taking a few and dipping them in that red shrimp sauce. Renesmee paced the room, then stopped and turned to us. "We were all blackmailed by Mr. Firdango, correct?" Gale froze, a shrimp halfway to his mouth. I took a deep breath. Gale stared at the shrimp, then he gave it a disgusted look and tossed it across the room. "Maybe." He grumbled. "You were blackmailed too?" I asked. Renesmee nodded. Gale sighed. "Ok, we were all blackmailed. Does this change anything? Now we know everyone will be trying just as hard as we are to win." "What if we all have the same secret?" Renesmee asked. "And that's why we were put into these groups." Gale shook his head. "No. My secret can only be mine." I frowned. Maybe Renesmee was right. "What exactly does your secret have to do with? I mean, I'm not asking you to tell me your secret…but what does it…" "Parents." Renesmee said. I frowned then shook my head. "I don't think my secret has anything to do with my parents. It might, but I doubt it." "Mine definitely doesn't." Gale said. I sighed. I almost wished we all had the same secret. It would make me feel less weird, like I wasn't the only freak who saw ghosts. But it seemed the world wanted me to be a loner on this.

The plane began to land, and I looked out the window to see a thick heavy forest. The jet landed, and we were escorted out to a fairly large clearing with a box in the middle. I watched blankly as the other groups landed, and as a camera crew set up their things. "Good thing we have a strategy." Gale muttered. "I guess we'll just have to wing it." Renesmee replied. "It's not like we knew anything about what we were doing." I added.

Mr. Firdango strolled onto the area and smiled out at us. "Hello and welcome to the first ever episode of my brand new game show, My Darling Secret!" Mr. Firdango said. Looking around I saw that the cameras were already rolling the show had already started. "Here I have nine normal, average kids. As you know, they will be competing in several challenges. Whoever wins gets a free pass to the next level. If you loose, you have a chance of being voted off by your fellow competitors." Mr. Firdango smiled at the camera. "What you don't know, what I have kept a secret so far, is the extra punishment if you are voted off the show." Mr. Firdango paused for dramatation. "Each of these kids has a secret. If they loose, I will tell you their secret. So at the end of the show, the winner will not only get a billion dollars and fame, but their secret will be forever saved." I shivered. How could this stranger know my secret? How could he just so easily tell it to the world? How did I get in this mess? "Let me introduce you to the cast!" Mr. Firdango turned to us. Slowly, he announced our names. "Meet CJ Allen, Penny Scavo, Natalie Dormer, Nico Di Angelo, Renesmee Cullen, James Potter, Gale _, Ian Germer, and Kate Sandazaki." I tried to smile at the camera, but I wasn't sure if I smiled or gave a constipated look. "For our first challenge, I'm putting them through a little race where they must retrieve a flag I've put at the end of their trails. I have divided them into teams for this first challenge. Team 1: CJ and Penny. Team 2: Nico and Kate. Team 3: Gale, Natalie, and Renesmee. And Team 4: James and Ian. I'd like one person from each team to come up here please. From my team, Gale came up. The other people who were up were CJ, Kate, and James. Mr. Firdango had them reach in and take a slip of paper from the metal box in the middle. "Based on the numbers each team has received, they get to choose the trail they want. There are four trails: The longest, the shortest, the living, and the dead." I took that in silence. Those sounded…lovely. I hoped we were the first group to pick. Then we could choose the shortest…"First group up, CJ and Penny." I frowned. Of course CJ got first pick. "The shortest." CJ said confidently, handing her slip back to Mr. Firdango and walking to the trail with Penny. Next Gale picked the trail, and he chose the living. After that James picked the longest trail, and Kate and Nico were stuck with the dead trail. Mr. Firdango bid us farewell and good luck, and then my group was off on it's way. "Well, this should be interesting." Gale murmured. "Very." Renesmee agreed. "What the hell did those titles mean? The dead? Living?" Gale shrug. "Well, we got the living. So we'll probably survive." "You think that's what it means? That on this trail we live and on the dead trail we'd die." Renesmee asked. Gale shrugged. "I guess. What else would they mean?" Something told me he was wrong. Something told me he was very wrong.

And guess what?

I was right.


	9. Chapter 8 Renesmee

**Spoilers: Yea you should probably read the whole series…this is a character that pops up during book 4 end of part 2. If you've read till there continue, if you havn't you wont get this. Go to the bottom where there's a vague summary.**

**Nonreaders: Renesmee is in love with a werewolf named Jacob**

**Renesmee**

Natalie, Gale and I walked down our path undisturbed for the first few minutes. We chatted blankly, switching from normal things to the trail and what was up ahead.

I heard a low growling sound from up ahead. "Natalie. Gale." They stopped and turned to me. "Listen." They stopped and listened. "I don't hear anything." Natalie said. Gale shook his head. "Neither." He walked a few steps then stopped. "No wait, I do." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dark shadow jump on Natalie, and pull her away. I heard her scream, and Gale and I spun around. "What the…" Gale mumbled. He picked up a rock from the ground, and held it in front of him as a weapon. I just stood there, breathing heavily. I knew that scent, that shape…

It was a wolf.

The wolf jumped out again, it's eyes white, it's fur black as shadows. It growled at us, and leaned down to spring at us. I could have moved, or protected myself very easily. But I couldn't.

I saw the wolf's fur turn a beautiful chestnut brown and the eyes a big soft brown. To me, the wolf was my friend. My love.

I couldn't hurt this wolf, for I only saw Jacob in it.

My perfect other half.

So when the wolf lunged at me, I didn't stop it. I didn't _want_ to stop it. I wanted it to come for me.

I wanted Jacob.

But I was snapped out of my daydreams to find Gale rolling around on the floor with the wolf, trying to kill it and not be killed.

I could have run over and helped him, or I could have run over to help Natalie up, who was wounded but trying to get up and help.

But instead I just stood there, stone still.

The wolf's fangs were close, so close to biting Gale's neck, and I found myself longing for them to do just that. Then I shook my head, riding myself of that thought. This wasn't Jacob. This wasn't anyone in his clan, or even in Sam's clan. This wolf wasn't a friend, it was a foe. A danger. I stepped closer, going to help Gale, but I stopped again when I saw the wolf wince and heard it wine as Gale pressed a rock into it's arm.

Jacob, my dear Jacob.

I had to help him.

I stepped closer, intent to help Jacob and kill Gale.

Then the wolf cried out again and turned on Natalie, who had just stepped on his tail.

No one steps on my boyfriend's tail.

Then Gale grabbed a rock by him and pressed it into the wolf, the wolf whinnied one last time, then slowly, it bled to death.

"What did you do?" I screamed. "Why did you kill him!" I ran over and turned the wolf over to find the light fading out of it's white beedy eyes.

White eyes, not brown.

Black fur, not chestnut.

This wasn't Jacob.

I breathed in and out heavily, trying to calm myself.

Jacob was still ok. I'd go home, and he'd still be there, and we'd live immortally happy for forever.

"Why do you think!" Gale screamed. "He tried to fucking kill us! What's wrong with you?"

I swallowed. What was wrong with me? Shaking, I stood up. "I'm sorry." I whispered. "I-" I tried to explain, but I couldn't. What was I going to say? That I was in love with a guy who morphed into a giant wolf, and I had grown up loving wolves and couldn't bear to see one killed, even if it was killing me?

"Come on. Lets just go." Natalie said, trying to end the awkward, angry silence that had come between us.

Gale and Natalie walked ahead, and taking one last glance at the dying wolf, I followed.

Summary for spoilers:

**Gale, Natalie, and Renesmee get attacked by a giant wolf and Renesmee freaks. **


	10. Chapter 9 Nico

**Nico Di Angelo**

I winced as something hit me on the head. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a pebble fall on the ground next to me. I looked up, and saw the trees slightly wavering. I continued to walk, assuming that the rock had fallen from the tree or something. Then I frowned, realizing that there was no wind, and the trees shouldn't have been moving as if there was. I looked up again as I walked. The blue sky blended in with the towering trees. The sky seemed…odd. The clouds weren't inching across the sky like they should have been, the sun completely still. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another rock fall off to the side. It wasn't too big, maybe ¼ the size of my fist. "Kate." I asked. She turned to find me a few feet behind her, "Nico? What's wrong?" "Where do you think we are?" I asked. She shook her head. "I don't know. He never really said." Look at the sky." I told her. She looked up and frowned. "What about it?" "It looks…fake. The clouds and sun aren't moving." She frowned. "Your right, but…" Another rock fell, then another. She gapped. "What's…" Another rock fell, closer this time. It was larger than the others, and as more fell, their size grew. "Holly shit." I cursed. Kate stood staring up at the sky, her eyes gleaming. "Come on!" I yelled grabbing her arm and running with her. More rocks fell, and soon they turned from fist size to small boulders. They fell more quickly now, and all over the place. I knew if we kept moving, we'd probably have a larger chance of getting hit. I led Kate to a giant tree and we hid under its largest branches, hoping that if the rock fell over us it'd bounce off the tree branch. Then again, it could always bring the tree branch down with it. The rocks continued to fall for a few minutes, and just when I feared they wouldn't stop, and we'd have to run through them, they began to abate. I glanced at Kate, then couldn't look away. She was pressed against the tree trunk, her small body heaving. She was right under me, so close to touching me. Her beautiful eyes were wide with fear, but she was beginning to calm down. Her eyes were staring up at me, straight into mine, evaluating my soul.

And her lips.

Oh Hades, I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to know how her soft light lips tasted under mine; I wanted to know how her delicate skin felt under my hands. I wanted to feel her body close to mine, trusting me.

Oh gods, what was I thinking?

I hardly knew this girl, why was I so damn attracted to her?

Why did my thoughts always turn to her?

Why did I want to kiss her so much?

I realized the rocks had completely stopped falling, and I was still protectively over Kate. I blushed and stepped back, and slowly she moved from the tree.

"That was…interesting." She said. Then she reached out and took my hand, leading me back to the path. "Come on, let's get out of here before rocks start falling again." She told me.

We walked along the path for a little more, when we finally saw our flag up ahead. It was red, and on it in black block letters was the word 'Dead'.

The only problem?

The flag was surrounded by water, which was several feet wide, maybe half a mile, and seemingly very deep.

"Perfect." I muttered. "Lake's probably full of crocodiles or something."

"I don't think so." Kate said, then she ran and jumped into the water.

My heart did this weird little jump, and I almost jumped in after her, despite my fear of water.

"Kate!" I screamed. I couldn't see her body, the water was too dark and murky, and she was fully submerged by it.

Then suddenly she popped up, already 1/4th way across the moat. "Did you call me?" She asked.

I exhaled, relived. "Gods you scarred the shit out of me." She grinned at me. Her blonde hair was wet and there was a piece of something green in it, but she still managed to look pretty. "Hurry up." I pleaded. "There could be something in there."

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Were on the dead route, right?"

I nodded. "So please, hurry up so you don't die."

She shook her head again. "I think everything on this route meant to hinder or help us is a non-living creature. Were not going to necessarily die." With that she dipped back down into the water. She came up again, halfway across the moat. I was about to shout something to her, but she dipped back in again. She was scarring me, the way she would stay down for almost a minute. What if she was wrong? What if something happened below the surface and I didn't know? She emerged on top of the block of cement where the flag was located, in a stand. She pulled out the flag and swam back to me.

She hoisted herself up easily on the bank, soaked through and through. She coughed out water then smiled up at me. "Got it."

"You okay?" I asked, helping her up.

She smiled and handed me the flag. "Yea, I'm fine. Let's get back."


	11. Chapter 10 Penny

**Penny**

"Yikes, if this is the short trail, I feel really sorry for everyone else." I said.

CJ nodded. "This is taking forever." I stumbled, and CJ caught me.

I smiled up at her. "Thanks." Our trail was covered in leaves, rocks, and tree branches that were hidden form our view tripped us often. We had already retrieved our flag, and we were walking the long distance back now.

"So you live in Massachusetts, right?" CJ asked me.

I nodded. "Yea. You?"

"New York."

"Doesn't someone else here live there?" I asked, frowning.

CJ smiled tiredly at me. "Yea. Nicole. We knew each other before."

"Oh really?"

CJ nodded. "Yea. We, we were friends once."

I frowned. "Were?" CJ nodded, her eyes cast downwards. "What happened?" I asked her. She sighed. "I mean, you don't have to tell me, I was ju-"

"Nah it's fine. Don't apologize for being curious." CJ told me. "Nicole and I were best friends. I was the first to get a boyfriend, and I don't know, I guess she was jealous. One day she turned my boyfriend against me, and she stole him and ditched me." CJ's lower lip was quavering slightly, and her eyes were big and sad. I felt so bad for her. I wanted to help her, help CJ and make everything better.

"God, that's…that's terrible. Tell you what, I promise that I'll try and help you get her off this show." I told her.

CJ looked up at me, her blue eyes shinning. "You'd do that to help me? Just some random person you don't really know?"

I shrugged. "Yea. That was wrong of Nicole. And I don't really have anyone else I'd vote off."

CJ laughed. "Thanks. That's really sweet of you."

We finally came into the big clearing, to find everyone else already there with his or her flags.

"CJ! Penny! Glad you could join us. Did you get your flag?" Mr. Firdango asked us.

"Were…last?" CJ frowned.

Mr. Firdango's expression turned comforting and he nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"B-But, we had the shortest trail!" CJ protested.

Mr. Firdango shook his head. "No you had the longest trail."

"We took the shortest! That was our pick! Our flag even _says_ we took the short trail!"

"Ah yes, you took the shortest distance. If you had been adventurous and had walked straight through the forest, not through the trail, then you would have been back in around 5 minutes. But since you took the trail, it took you much longer, since the trail winded along the road."

"That's not fair!" CJ protested.

"Yes it is. I never said you had to use the trail." Mr. Firdango said with a shrug. "If you had asked me which _trail_ was the shortest, I would have told you to go for the long flag. They had the shortest path; their flag was just a great distance from the starting point.

CJ's face was red, and I saw a few people from the other teams snickering. She opened her mouth as if to say something more, than shut it and stood there.

"Anyway, our winning team was James and Ian. In second we have Nico and Kate, then Natalie, Gale, and Renesmee, and in last place we have Penny and CJ."

"Do Ian and I both get a free pass to the next round?" James asked, and my heart jumped. James was, well, seriously hot. His brown hair fell sexily in his green eyes; his voice was deep, smooth, and seductive. Ian was pretty hot too; his black hair and face surprisingly went well together.

Mr. Firdango shook his head. "There will be a mini challenge between you two to determine who will get the free pass."

"And, what will that challenge be?" Ian asked. Mr. Firdango smiled, then out of his pocket pulled a slip of paper.

"Jump for it."


	12. Chapter 11 James

**James**

"You've got to be kidding." Ian said.

Ian was the most competition I had in this game. Girls giggled when he walked by them, adults took interest in him and favored him. He made friends easily, made allies.

But that wasn't all. I looked in his eyes, past what at first seemed like a happy, flawless guy.

His eyes were dark, intense, furious, forceful, passionate, acute, agonized, concentrated, and powerful. He had a secret, a grudge, a passion that would make him deadly in this game.

But he was stupid. He had a brain he just didn't use it.

Mr. Firdango shook his head. "I'm dead serious." And, he was. So we ended up getting on either side of him, waiting to jump.

I had to win this, I absolutely _had_ to.

"Ready." I had to win this so my family would be proud of me.

"Set." I had to win this to get the money.

"Go." I had to keep my secret.

Ian jumped for the flag, and instead of jumping up as well I head-butted him in the stomach, and it sent him to the ground, his eyes wide in shock, his mouth open, gasping for air. I reached for the piece of paper and took it.

I had won.


	13. Voting

_The nine kids sat around, talking, laughing._

_Renesmee's eyes were shinning as she and CJ laughed at something Gale had just said._

_Next to them Penny and James were having a conversation. James was slouching and grinning, relaxed, while Penny was sitting up straight. Their legs were touching, and their faces were both flushed._

_Kate was saying something softly to Nico, and every so often you would here her light trilling laughter sneak around the room, filling our ears with music._

_Ian seemed an upset, angry with himself, and he sat alone sulking, where Natalie sat as well, bored._

_Allen entered the room in his sharp black suit, smiling at everyone. _

"_Well played today." He told them. "Well played. And now, it's time to vote."_

_**Nico** looked down at the desk. On it there were pictures of each contestant. He skimmed over them, when his eyes caught Kate's picture._

_Oh God, he'd never vote her off. Never._

_He looked at the pictures again, then again. His eyes lay on the picture of that blonde, CJ. Everyone seemed to like her, but something about her bothered him…_

_**Natalie** didn't even have to think about it. Already in her head, she knew she'd vote CJ off._

_**Penny** looked at the faces of the people, then remembered what CJ had said about Natalie. She was definitely voting her off…_

_**Ian's** eyes wouldn't leave James's face. He wanted to vote him off so bad…but he couldn't. Ian looked around again, and decided on that guy Gale. Something about him…_

_**Renesmee** looked around, hesitating on each face. She didn't dislike anyone enough to easily vote them off... She finally decided on Ian. He had almost won, and he seemed like competition…_


	14. Chapter 12 Gale

**Gale from Hunger Games. Rights to the author.**

**Spoilers: Who Katniss chose in the end. It's kind of obvious though…**

**ALSO spoiler alerts for Pretty Little Liars, same conditions as the last time I had a summary from Ian. If you don't want to be spoiled I have the name of the person who got voted off at the end. **

**Nonreaders: Gale fell in love with a girl named Katniss who left him for another guy. Also I have something from Pretty Little Liars in here, ignore it. There's a summary at the end though if you don't want to read this…**

**Gale**

I looked around at my fellow contestants. We were all sitting nervously, waiting to see who had been voted off. Actually, I take that back. All of us but James, who was smirking, as he'd just won the challenge.

And, yes, I was nervous to.

For the millionth time, I looked around, wondering who would be the first voted off.

CJ broke the silence, murmuring something to Ian, who replied to her. To the rest of the world he looked relaxed, but I could see that he was really admiring CJ's beauty, that deep down she thought she was hot.

Too bad she didn't like him back. That, and she had a boyfriend. Love brought so many complications, so much pain.

I took comfort in the fact knowing I'd never go through that again.

After Katniss left me for forever, I…was heartbroken. So when a random lady from the Capital asked me if I wanted to loose my feelings for her, I agreed.

It was a brand new machine she was working on, and before releasing it to the public she had to try it out on a few people.

The catch?

I don't feel any feelings for anyone. I look at girls, and I feel just like I'm looking at my mom, or my sister, or another guy.

The lady warned me of this, and I really didn't mind. I didn't care about love anymore.

But anyway, nothing went wrong with the machine, but I have had some small side effects.

Like, knowing whenever someone has a crush on someone else.

"Who's ready to see our contestants results?" I heard Mr. Firdango say from outside the screen we were sitting behind, and following it was a cheer from the people who paid to come see the results live.

Seriously, who the hell would do that? If they were seeing the whole show, that would be a different story. But show up just for the results? Come on.

"With six votes against him, Ian Gerald Kasky has been voted off." I looked over at Ian, who's face had turned white, his expression grim. I admit I voted him off. I knew if I had kept him on, he'd just be difficult competition later on.

On a TV in our room, we all saw everything being broadcasted.

"No!" Ian screamed, jumping from his seat. It was no use, no one saw or heard him. "You can't tell my secret! You don't understand! I'll die! She'll come after me!" Two guards came back over and grabbed Ian by his arms, putting him back in his seat.

Across the TV, I saw pictures of a guy with blonde hair and good looks being flashed across the screen. "Or should I say, Ian Thomas? Or, should I say, Ian Cadge?" I suddenly realized the guy on the TV screen was Ian. As pictures and videos were flashed across, Mr. Firdango went on. "Ian used to live in the seemingly perfect city of Rosewood, under the name Ian Thomas. Soon Ian was to find out his mother's husband wasn't truly his father. Ian's mother and father divorced, splitting their children in half. Ian and his older sister got stuck with their mom, who married another man and changed all their names. She kept her first marriage a secret to her children, but they found out anyway. Ian's sister died, and the girl he was cheating with went missing. Three years later the girl came back revealing it was truly her twin sister who had died. Ian was the first to figure out her secret, and the girl figured out he knew. So, she set out to kill him. Instead of killing Ian, she killed one of his triplets, who was visiting Ian when he was on house arrest. Ian fled to his father and other triplet, and ever since they've been on the run." I starred over at Ian, who's face had turned from white to green. Two men muttered something to him, then escorted him out of the room.

**Ian got voted off. **


	15. Chapter 13 Ian

**All right. Good news, this is the last Pretty Little Liars thing, so most of the rest of my story wont have spoilers. If you haven't read PLL, just skip this. **

**Ian**

Those stupid men in grey escorted me to my plane, where I would go back to my hell of a life which I had to spend running from Alison.

I didn't care if the entire world knew my secret, as long as Alison didn't.

I know, everyone thinks she blew up in that house. But she didn't. If they hadn't found her body, and her family had bolted, and…something just told me she was still out there. Still out there and crazy, ready to kill anyone who knew about her…

I heard a small cough behind me and spun around to find the man who had ruined my life.

"How could you do this?" I said, feeling as if I might cry. Oh God, cry? When had I ever cried? Not when Alison, or Courtney, had died, not when I was blamed for her murder, not when I found out my triplet had died in my place and I had to leave town and start over a new life.

"Do you have no compassion?" I screamed at him. He just continued to look at me through his blue piercing eyes. "Why do you hate us so much! All of us! Why are you doing this?" No reaction. "Don't you have a secret? Haven't you ever had something you wanted to hide from someone? Something that couldn't be told?"

"Of course I have a secret."

"Hell you do! And I swear I'm going to find out what it is and tell everyone!" I screamed. Mr. Firdango went on calmly, as if I hadn't spoken.

"I have a secret a little like that boy Gale's. And yes, one day my secret will be told to the world. You will not reveal it, I'm afraid, but one day my secret will be told." Mr. Firdango smiled and looked down at his watch, then back up at me. "I'm afraid your planes here. Good luck, it was nice meeting you Ian."


	16. Chapter 14 Kate

**Kate**

My stylist, a plump blonde with merry eyes, brushed my hair and pulled the top half of my hair back out of my face in one of those half ponytail. She insisted on doing my hair and make up _every day._ It was nice to be treated special, but I think I can do my own hair and clothes. I'm not three. I stood up as she pulled out some eye shadow. "Oh no. No thank you. Were done." I told her.

"But your not wearing any make up!" She told me.

"I don't wear make up on a daily basis." I replied, turning to leave the room.

"Well you will as long as I'm your stylist!" She screeched, coming after me

After much argument, I allowed her to put on mascara for me. Then she smuggled on white eye shadow.

It's not that I'm against make up. I'm not. But I feel weird wearing it now, since at home we don't really have the extra money to buy it. The only time I wore makeup was to weddings and stuff. I remembered the times when my little sister and I used to go through my mom's bathroom stuff. When we did find our makeup, she would close her little eyes, clamp her hands together, and patiently wait for me to make her "bewtiful". Thinking of my little sister's face almost made me cry. I missed her so much.

The muffled sound of something falling brought me back to my senses. My stylist was already gone, and it wasn't like I shared the room with anyone… I heard a small sound again, and looked around the room.

"Hello?" I asked, and my words seemed to hang empty in the air. My throat turned dry, my skin prickled. "I know you're there. So you might as well come out." I stood there for a while, waiting, then a little blonde boy stepped out from behind a dresser. I sighed, relieved that it was nothing else, though I had no idea what else it could have been. I recognized the boy, once or twice I'd seen him helping my stylists prep me for a challenge, and I'd seen him out of the corner of my eye in the building.

I laughed, relived. "Now you look familiar. What's your name?"

He took a step closer to me. "Kick," he said softly. His voice was light and soft, making me feel as if I was falling asleep on a cloud.

"Kick?" I said chuckling lightly. "What does that stand for?" He shrugged, and I smiled at him. I sat down on my bed and patted the spot next to me. 'Want to come sit?" He shook his head and backed up.

"So why do you stay here? Your not part of the competition, are you?" I asked him.

He shook his head.

"Then why do you stay here?"

"My parents work here." He said.

"Is your mom my stylist?"

He shook his head again. "No. Her name's Vanessa Habram."

"What does she do?" I asked, trying to make conversation, but it was hard. The kid only answered my questions, not giving me anymore information to work off of.

He shrugged and said, "Whatever my dad needs her to do."

"Who's your dad?"

"My dad is Allen Firdango."

It took me a few seconds to get over my surprise. Allen was…married? He had…kids?

"Well, I know your dad," I told him, "he hosts and runs the show I'm in." Kick nodded.

"Yea with all those kids. You seem closest to that black haired guy."

"You mean Nico? Yea, I guess."

"I don't like him." Kick said, his face expressionless.

"Why not?" I asked, curious. Kick blushed and looked down at the floor, kicking his shoe against the floor.

"He likes you. A lot."

I frowned. "He does? How do you know?" Kick ignored my question and blushed deeper.

"And so do I," he whispered. Then Kick disappeared into the shadows and left the room.

I waited five minutes, for, I don't know, Kick to come back, but then I sighed and left my room, going to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. The cast had rested for a week, back in the pampering we were in when we had first arrived. Tomorrow we were supposed to go on TV again, and later today we would have a meeting with Mr. Firdango. I spotted Nico up ahead, and strode up to him. "Hey." I told him.

He looked up at me, surprised, as if he hadn't seen me coming. "Oh hey."

"Excited for our second challenge?" I teased.

"Very. Any idea what we'll be doing?"

"None." I answered as we walked into the cafeteria. It was a huge room, one you'd see at a high school, but with much better food, and only one table. I saw Renesmee sitting at the table, drinking from a canteen. Next to her sat Gale, who was grumpily stabbing at his eggs. Across from them CJ sat, stirring a cup of coffee with a candy cane. (Don't ask. She drinks that every day.) Nico and I head over to the lunch line, grabbed our food and sat down.

"Second challenge tomorrow." Renesmee stated obviously.

"So excited!" CJ said sarcastically.

"I know right? Like, I love running around on orders from that crazy old man." James said, coming up behind her.

CJ giggled and poked him in the arm as he sat down next to her. "What will it be this time?" CJ asked. "Another maze?" Penny and Natalie came up with bowls of cereal and sat down.

"No." James replied. "We'll be locked in a room and have to run from a monster."

CJ laughed, "And that monster's him, right?"

"The old man himself." James agreed.

"Old? That man's more than old. He's a creepy, hairy, ghastly-"

"Shut up CJ." Natalie muttered.

CJ rolled here eyes. "What? I'm just poking fun. Just because you don't have a sense of humor doesn't mean the rest of us don't."

Natalie glared at her.

"She's right." Glare said, speaking up. In the days that had come, he'd become less and less talkative.

"Well if your going to get in such a fuss about it, I wont." CJ said rolling her eyes and taking a sip of coffee.

Gale gritted his teeth. "It's not about what I think."

"Then what?" CJ snapped.

"I don't trust that guy. He…"

"He what? You think he's watching us now?"

"He could fucking well be!" Gale screamed. "He supposedly knows all our secrets, how do you think he found them out?" Gale took a deep breath and continued. "You saw what he did to Ian!" The whole table stopped moving, half frozen in moving positions, just like on TV (which, I guess we were kind of on now…). No one had dared mention him, as if speaking his name would lead to similar fates for us. I admit it I voted him off. I couldn't think of anyone else to vote off, and he seemed like he could be trouble in the future…."Who's next? Is it fair that he gets to tell your secrets just for publicity?"

"Well God Gale, we never said it was fair." Renesmee spoke up, "We hate it as much as you d-"

"Than just shut up and be careful what you say!" He growled. "I don't know about you guys, but I have an actual secret, an actual life, and I don't want to screw it up because some stranger figured out my secret and got pissed at me just because I was caught bad mouthing him." Gale stood up and strode out of the cafeteria, leaving his food behind. The entire table was shell shocked, silent. I was shaking on the inside from what he had said. If everyone figured out my secret…

"Someone's in a bad mood." CJ grumbled.

Nicole glared at her and taking her food tray, walked out the cafeteria. CJ snorted and Nico curiously watched her go.


	17. Chapter 15 Gale

**Gale**

We all sat around a polished wooden table in a small oval room, with sun streaming through the blue shade curtains. Everyone but Mr. Firdango was here, waiting for him to come in and tell us whatever crap he needed to say for our next challenge.

It was surprising how lightly everyone else was taking this. It was like they were ok that we were being blackmailed into participating in this little wreck of a show, our secretes being revealed to the world. The show had become a huge hit; starting out a small new reality TV show to a huge known drama that everyone talked about and watched. The show had been talked about in almost every famous magazine, and the commercial for our show played often on TV.

Mr. Firdango walked into the room in his crisp dark suit, and sat down at his seat. He smiled warmly at us. "Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed your week of rest and relaxation."

Yea, that week preparing us for a day of torture and fear. "As you know, tomorrow you'll be having your second challenge. Unlike last week, you won't be separated into groups. Also unlike last week, I will tell you today what the challenge is. Tomorrow, you will all be dropped in different cities. Your challenge is to steal a Mercedes and drive back here with it. First one to make it back wins." Wait…. what?

"A couple rules. No one can get information on you to track you. If someone does catch you stealing it, you're automatically out. Also, you wont get a license. Whether or not you have one, you can't use it. So try not to get pulled over on the road."

"Um, Mr. Firdango?" Renesmee quipped up. "Isn't it…illegal to steal?"

Mr. Firdango waved his hand dismissively. "Of course we'll return the cars. And we made an arrangement with, ah, officials so that we can't be sued or anything for this." Great. Now this guy was turning us into thieves.

Another secret he could blackmail us for?


	18. Chapter 16 Natalie

**Natalie**:

Mission: Steal a car.

And not just any car, a fricken Mercedes.

How the hell do you steal a Mercedes?

I looked around me. The sky was a light blue, the few trees around waving at me. The car store in front of me was closed, it was early in the morning, but the manager or someone was lurking around, coming in and out of the shop randomly. I was 'hidden' behind a bush, watching the car stop, the road right behind me, cameras surely hidden around somewhere. If anyone saw me sitting here, they would probably be suspicious. Not exactly what I wanted, but I found the challenge too stupid to care much.

How the hell do you steal a _car_? How the hell do you steal a _Mercedes_?

Across the street, I spotted a little girl walking toward me. A sudden jerking chill went through my body, and immediately I knew. This was my secret. The little girl walking toward me was dead, only seen to me. At will, I could talk to her, heck, play with her if I wanted. But now wasn't the time to converse with the dead. I was being _televised_ for all I knew. People would see me supposedly talking to myself and think I was crazy. I tried ignoring the girl, hoping she would go away, but she continued to walk toward me. My body tensed, stiffened, as she came up behind me. _Please, please, please, go away._I said to myself, my eyes clenched tight, hoping somehow she'd hear me and leave.

"Hey." I heard the girl say, and then crack her gum.

Since when did the dead chew gum?

I didn't answer, and the girl poked me and raised her voice, "Hey, I know you can hear me, so stop pretending you can't."

"Hi," I grumbled.

"Watchadoin?" The girl said, making the three words one, like that Asian little girl did in that show, 'Phineas and Ferb'.

"Nothing that concerns you," I grumbled again. I was trying to keep my lips as tight as I could, my voice as low as possible, so if I were being televised now, then people would be less likely to see.

"Which Mercedes are you going to steal?" She asked, rocking back and forth on her heels. I could see now she was wearing those Velcro strap shoes, which were shinny black, her brown hair in stiff pigtails.

"Wait, how do you know about that?" I hissed.

She shrugged. "Your on TV. Everyone knows it."

I frowned. "You watch TV?"

She rolled her eyes. "Duh. Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I can't do anything."

I frowned. "So you own a TV?"

She snorted. "Duh no. I watched off of some old ladies' TV." The girl sniffed. "She's living in my old house. Anyway, I saw you on the TV, recognized where you were, and came over to watch you up close." She grinned. "Another good thing about being dead. You can do whatever you want for free. Didn't have to pay at all to see you in person."

My throat tightened as a thought occurred to me. "Wait, is anyone watching us, like, live, right now?"

She shrugged. "Doubt it. No. Not really. Doubt it."

I frowned, started to turn to her, then realized if I was being televised that wasn't the brightest thing to do. "Stop changing your answer. Which one is it?"

She didn't answer, then I sighed. "Well, nice chat. But excuse me I need to figure out how to steal a car." I waited for a minute, but she didn't leave. "Yes?" I asked, exasperated.

"I can help you." She stated. For the first time, I turned to look directly at her.

"You can?"

She shrugged. "Like I said, the dead can do anything." She grinned, as if enjoying her own joke. "For free."

"So, can you like, steal the car for me?"

She shrugged. I realized she did that a lot. "Sure."

She almost turned and left, then I stopped her. "Wait, no, that will look suspicious and crazy. Um, just cause a distraction please."

"One condition." She said, staring down at me.

"Yea ok." She glared at me more.

"I'm serious. Everything depends on you listening to me, no matter how rash this seems. When I give you the signal, GO."

I frowned. "What are you going to do?"

She glared at me again, and despite that she was about the age of 5, I mentally shrinked back.

"Do you want my help or not?"

"Ok, ok, ok." I agreed.

She smiled sweetly. "Good. Now keep your head down, run for the car fast, and try not to let anyone see you. Go for that blue Mercedes on the right. Run at my signal."

She disappeared, and I laughed to myself. I was using my darling secret to _win_. Take that Mr. F-in crazy. After five minutes, I saw the girl's pigtailed head poke through the door of the store, and she mouthed 'GO' to me. I jumped up and ran toward the Mercedes she had motioned me to. Too late, I realized we hadn't unlocked the doors; I didn't have the key to get in. This was so unplanned. I desperately yanked at the door and was surprised when it came open easily. I heard the manager yell something from the other side and slammed the door shut on my, my heart pounding. I searched the car's interior twice, looking for the 'lock doors' button, but I was so freaked out I couldn't find it.

The manager was probably coming closer, getting closer to me. I had to lock him out. Then I noticed the keys were in the car, and I wanted to smack myself for being so stupid. I started the car, pulled the car into reverse, and messily drove across the grass and road away from the car store. At first I was so freaked out I made the car swerve right and left, but then I calmed down enough to figure out how to move the car in a straight line. I wasn't the best driver, but at least I was driving.

I jumped as a loud KABOOM sounded, and the pigtailed girl appeared next to me. In my rearview mirror I saw the building explode, the manager yelling, running around frantically.

I shot the girl a freaked out look, but she was calmly popping her gum.

"How can you chew gum anyway?"

"I don't know. I'm not an expert. I died with it, get to keep it."

"And you couldn't have made anything a little less explosive?"

She shrugged. "You asked for a distraction."

I smiled. "For a little girl in pigtails, you sure have a destructive mind."

"Yea, well, that's what sticking around on Earth does to a girl."

I smiled to myself. Mr. Firdango never mentioned damage costs. And the more trouble I could cause him, the better.


	19. Chapter 17 CJ & Renesmee

**CJ**

How oh how to steal a car?

Dropped in who knows where, I searched the area for a Mercedes. In front of me there was a car shop, with a bunch of cars all lined up, ready for sale. Bright small signs advertised the sales and supposedly cheap prices of the cars. I could probably convince the sales manager to let me take the car without showing him a license…but he would make me put down my personal information. Which, I couldn't do. I sighed and turned away from the car shop, pouting. Cars whizzed by on the road, and I sighed. I turned to a collection of shops on my left, which included Starbucks, 5 guys, Michael's, and Baskin Robbins. I sighed again, and crossed my arms, then untangled and re-crossed them, wishing a solution would magically appear. And then, since my life was so perfect, it did.

A shinny Mercedes pulled into the parking lot, and out emerged the easiest victim possible. A teenage boy.

I walked up behind him as he struggled to pull his keys out of the car. Idiot.

"Hello there," I purred. He had just managed to pull his keys free, but he dropped them and almost banged his head turning to me.

He grinned, his eyes getting a glazed look when he saw me, "Hey."

"I was _going_ to get a Frappuccino from Starbucks, but then I realized I didn't have any money!" I laughed lightly without humor, sighing. Changing my demeanor, I stepped closer to him, my body inches from his, and batted my eyelashes. "Isn't that a shame?" I asked.

He nodded quickly, then said, "I could go buy you one!"

I leaned my face closer to his. "Oh could you?" I sighed, brushing my lips to his quickly. "That would be _sooo_ nice of you," I told him, making my fingers walk up his chest slowly with each word. His long brown hair was falling into his brown eyes, but I could still see his eyes gleaming.

"Yes!" His voice rose in volume and an octave higher, and he began walking to the store, twisting his body a little to look at me. "I'll be right back."

I gave him a sexy smile and leaned against the hood of his Mercedes. "And I'll be right here." As soon as the door to Starbucks closed, I hopped in his car, picked up his keys, and drove back to Florida.

Oh yes, I'll be right here.

**Renesmee **

I arrived at our meeting place in Florida. Hopefully, I'd be first. It wasn't that hard to steal the car. Thanks to my parents, I could run faster than the eye could see, and I was able to steal the car without anyone seeing me. When I pulled the car into the building's parking lot that the cast had been assigned to, I got out and found another car in the parking lot. Frowning, I got out of the Mercedes I stole and walked up to Mr. Firdango, who was sitting on a bench facing the parking lot. Next to him was CJ. I frowned, wondering how she could have made it here before me. When she saw me she jumped up smiling.

"Hey Renesmee!" I smiled back at her, still a bit upset that I hadn't made it first.

"I'm second, right Mr. Firdango?" I asked, turning to him. He nodded and gave me a thumb up. Then a shinny silver Mercedes screeched into the parking lot. Natalie emerged from it, looking a bit shaken up. She walked past us, shooting a nasty glare, then went up to Mr. Firdango and mumbled something to him.

"She still hates me," CJ sighed. I looked at her, my eyebrow raised.

"What do you mean?" CJ frowned and looked down, her blonde hair falling in her face, covering her eyes. Then she looked up at me, her lower lip quivering a little.

"We used to be best friends. Then…I don't know. She became jealous of me. She stole my boyfriend from me and told everyone rumors about me. And…she still hates me. She sends me glares whenever she can, snaps and contradicts me," CJ sighed. "I just wish she'd leave me alone. She already ruined my life. Why can't she just stop there?" CJ rubbed at her eye then smiled up at me. "I'm sorry. I can't believe I'm just sitting here blubbering to you." I opened my mouth to tell her it was no problem, that she wasn't blubbering or bothering me, but another car pulled into the parking lot. James emerged from inside, smirking.

"Well, I made it," he said, walking over to us. "I guess that makes me third?"

"Fourth," CJ corrected. "Natalie was third," she added, gesturing. Next Gale came out of his car, in fifth. He refused to go near Mr. Firdango, and stayed by his car where Natalie later came over to talk to him. Almost half an hour later, Nico, Kate, and Penny all came in their separate cars. When Penny finally came, Mr. Firdango got up and motioned for us all to gather. We all did, Gale the most reluctant.

"All right, good job to most of you. CJ, you get the free pass to the next round. Nico, you were spotted, so if you had come first, you wouldn't have made it. But since your not first, it doesn't matter, and you still have a chance to not get voted off. Everyone else, you made it, good work. Natalie, I know you think it's funny, but next time don't blow up the whole place. And CJ, you weren't supposed to steal from a random passerby. That was the reason I put you at a car shop."

"You never said anything against it," CJ argued, shrugging.

Mr. Firdango lifted his finger and pointed at her, his blue eyes glistening. "I didn't, which is why you're still in the running." Mr. Firdango straightened and smiled at everyone. "Well, you guys can have a few hours of rest, then it's time to vote."


	20. Voting2

_The eight kids sat around, talking, laughing._

_CJ sat talking with James, flirting slightly, and they laughed together, relaxed. Her eyes glinted from the knowledge she had won a free pass to the next level, from the glee from winning._

_Renesmee and Penny were talking to Kate in a hushed whisper, and Kate listened intently, at first looking a bit skeptical, but then uncomfortable._

_Nico sat next to Gale, and they talked a bit with Natalie. They all looked grumpy, all upset._

_Allen entered the room in his sharp black suit, smiling at everyone._

"_Well played today," he told them, "well played. And now, it's time to vote."_

**Renesmee, Kate,**and**Penny**were three very different people, but they had the same vote

**Gale**didn't want to vote anyone off. After seeing that guy Ian, he felt like he couldn't. But the only thing that made him feel even sicker than seeing someone voted off was being voted off him. He had a bad feeling he would be voted off. Last time he had voted Ian off, simply because he seemed like he would be a rival later on. What if everyone thought the same about him? What if no one found a reason _not_ to vote him off, and took him off in hope of saving him or herself? Gale looked around for at least five minutes, then decided on James. He had won last time…

**James**had gotten Ian off last time. James observed the people left. Nico and Natalie had a creepy atmosphere to themselves, and James didn't think they'd last very long in the games. CJ seemed like a good ally, Renesmee and Kate didn't seem very threatening, and Penny was kind of hot

James decided on Gale.


	21. Chapter 18 Kate

**Kate**

I jittered my leg nervously, wondering who would be voted off this time. Penny and Renesmee asked me to vote Natalie off with them, and I had. Now I felt extremely bad about it. She had never done anything to me. But, she had never done anything for me to keep her on. And if we had all voted her off, then she would get out over me. Something deep down told me I shouldn't have voted her off, and it kept growing, eating me away. A man in a grey suit came and motioned for me to follow him out of the room. He led me to the room we had been in before, where we could see Mr. Firdango from outside but where no one could see us. I stood at one end of the room, almost hopping from leg to leg, feeling extremely nervous about today. The man led me to the very left of the room and motioned for me to stay there.

"Hello everyone!" Mr. Firdango announced outside. "Today we will be seeing our second member leave, and our second secret. But first, I will tell you all a minor secret of each member."

Oh shit. This was not good. On the TV inside, we saw the screen showing us. First, it came to me.

"Kate's family has been in debt-twice." I blushed, my entire skin turning sticky and hot. Definitely not good.

"Renesmee's been in love for the past ten years." Ten years? But she couldn't be older then eighteen…so she was in love before she even hit the age of ten?

"Gale invented a weapon that killed a bunch of little kids in war." Gale's face appeared on screen, falling, his eyes screaming with pain and remorse.

"Penny goes from thinking James is hotalicious man candy to arrogant and conceded." Penny, gaped, and James, who was right next to her, snickered and put his arm around her. She glared at him and pushed him away.

"I never said that! Never even _thought_-" Penny was cut off by Mr. Firdango's voice.

"James hates all of his family and was happy to leave them and come here." James's face went from laughing to pale and shaken.

"CJ has been lying to you to get you to vote Natalie off."

CJ turned slightly pale, her mouth open in a perfect O. Natalie glared at her, and I immediately felt a billion times worse for voting her off.

"Ever since Nico met Kate, he's wanted to kiss her." Nico froze and turned pale, and the terrible feeling inside of me was replaced with a warm one. Nico wanted to kiss me? I blushed, hardly hearing Mr. Firdango say, "And Natalie will never forgive CJ for breaking her heart." Natalie's face turned hard, and CJ sent her a grin and a wink.

"And, I'm sorry to say, Natalie's been voted off due to CJ's lies."


	22. Chapter 19 Natalie

**Natalie**

Me. I was voted off. I ran over to CJ and kicked that double crossing, lying, jealous, thieving, bitch where her balls would be if she had any. She hissed at me and pushed me back. I lifted my hands to really hurt her, but those stupid men in grey suits pulled me away and took me from the room.

"I hate you!" I screamed at her. "Just you wait you foul-ass bitch! I'll get you! I'll get you for ruining my life!" Tears almost started pouring down my face. "I'll get you for Thomas, and I'll get you for this!"

The men in grey led me out of the room, and as they pulled me to the private jet that would take me home, I heard Mr. Firdango tell the world my secret. Now I'd go home and never live in peace again.

"Natalie," I turned to see Mr. Firdango, waiting quietly, his hands behind his back. For some reason, I wasn't angry with him. Not angry at all.

"Tell me," I whispered, "does CJ win?" Mr. Firdango looked at me, his face a mask of no emotion, his eyes unblinking.

"I do not know…"

"Don't you dare tell me you don't know!" I screamed, taking his shoulders and shaking him. He still looked at me as calmly as if we were having tea. "I know you know," I whispered. As I looked into his unique blue eyes, I saw that he really did know. He knew exactly when and if CJ got out, he knew who would win, and he knew this whole time that I would get out. "I know you know, and you know that I know you know," I whispered, "So please, just tell me. Does CJ get out?" I closed my eyes and repeated, "tell me she gets off the show. Tell me she doesn't win this." I opened my eyes and stared up at Mr. Firdango's unnatural blue eyes…

I looked out the window of the private jet at the clouds. And as I did, I relieved my life. First realizing the ghosts around me were not imaginary friends, but actual spirits. Meeting and befriending CJ. Ignoring her growing uneasiness as we grew. Meeting Thomas, the joy I had when he first asked me out. Ignoring CJ's jealousy. Then one day, something in CJ…changed. She easily stole Thomas from me, stole my friends, and stole my life. The only comfort I ever had was the ghosts around me. Then coming here. Trying to let go of everything, trying to restart my life. Then finding out CJ was here too. Going through the first two challenges, CJ's look of pure pride when Mr. Firdango told everyone I'd never forgive her, that she had broken my heart.


	23. Chapter 20 Nico

**Nico**

As soon as the camera turned off, I strode out of the room as quickly as I could without running. My previously white face was now red, my body burning hot despite the cool atmosphere. I heard footsteps chasing after me, and I tried to walk faster and loose the person behind me. Despite this, the footsteps caught up to me, coming closer, and I desperately tried to avoid the confrontation I knew was coming.

I didn't have to look behind me to know who was chasing me, who was following me so persistently. Her name repeated itself in my head over and over.

I turned another corner in one last desperate attempt, then stopped abruptly as I saw a dead end at the end of a hall.

My stalker almost bumped into me from behind, and, not thinking, I spun around to come face to face with Kate.

My throat tightened, chocking me, my limbs refused to move, my eyes glued to her blue ones.

Hades, I loved her.

I inhaled sharply, surprised at myself for even _thinking_…

Hades, what was wrong with me?

I'd only known her for three weeks…

"Nico." Kate exhaled. She stepped forward and I stepped backward. I stepped back once more and my back hit the wall.

Cornered.

Kate was grinning up at me, her face shinning, eyes gleaming with laughter. Her utterly perfect lips pulled up in a smile.

"You want to kiss me?" She grinned and stepped closer to me, then closer still.

Before I could reply, or even _think_ of a reply, she lightly inched he hands up my chest and around my neck. Slowly she moved her head closer to mine. First our foreheads touched, then our noses brushed, then she pressed her sweet, sweet, lips into mine.

Fireworks exploded in my head, my stomach lurching like a roller coaster, filling me with the greatest feeling. I pulled my lips back, grinning like a fool. Kate sighed and smiled, then stroked my lips with her finger before kissing me again. I was glad that I was up against a wall, otherwise I would have fallen from the pure bliss of it. She touched me so gently, as if she was afraid that she'd hurt me if she touched my any harder.

"How come you never told me?" she whispered, pulling her lips out of mine, but her skin still brushing mine.

"Why would I?" I asked, still grinning. Kate exhaled and pushed her arms tighter around my neck and kissed me again, ever so slightly harder than the last time.

And as we stood there, one thought kept repeating in my head;

_Thank you Mr. Firdango_


	24. Chapter 21 Penny

**Penny**

"You know you love me!" James called, laughing, chasing after me.

"I do not!" I shouted back, stomping off to the Cafeteria room.

Three days. Three days and he was _still_ following me, trying to get me to tell him I liked him. That arrogant….

"I guess now would be the time you think that I'm an arrogant conceded old fool," James said, walking parallel to me now. "But one day babe, I'll catch you when you think I'm hotalicious man candy," he continued, changing his voice to sound deep and scratchy and wrapping his arm around my waist. Normally I would have laughed, but after several days of this, I was getting beyond pissed.

"James, I don't care _what_ Mr. Firdango said. I do not, not, _not_ think your hotaliciou- oh God I can't even say it," I sighed, "look, my point is, I never actually _said that_. Hell, I didn't even _think_ it!" For the first time in days, James was quiet. Finally he looked back up at me and smirked.

"Well Mr. Firdango seems to think you did."

"You!" I groaned, "Are the most stubborn, conceded…"

"See he was right about half of it. So, I'm thinking he was right about the other half too." I groaned again and entered the cafeteria, James right behind me.

Ok, so maybe James was decent looking. Ok, I admit it: he was hot. His brown hair curled sexily around his face, his dark eyebrows framed his piercing blue eyes, and his face and body shaped perfectly like he was some kind of god freaking model. He was seriously one piece of hotalic-

Oh no.

I strode over to the table with my food, James right behind me.

Natalie and Ian's absence now left us with seven cast members.

CJ was never here anymore. Each time she sat down, everyone got up and ditched her. Not being able to take it, she left the table for good. It made me feel just a _little_ bad for her, but I was still pissed she had lied to me to get me to vote of Natalie. Gale and Renesmee had become close, and while Gale was still overly pissed at Mr. Firdango, I guess Renesmee kind of calmed him down a bit.

Kate and Nico were sitting to each other, and the way they looked at each other was so sweet but so annoying at the same time. At least Mr. Firdango had done something good for _them_. I, on the other hand, was being stalked by James. James set his tray of food down next to me, and…oh God. He moved his hand down my shoulder and arm, putting his face close to mine and sniffing my hair.

"James get the fuck off of me!" I normally don't like to curse, but he was seriously getting on my nerves. James pulled away, smirking, and shrugged.

"Fine. Have it your way." He sat down close to me, his back leaning against the table, his legs stretched apart. He caught me staring and chuckled. I blushed and turned to my food, trying to eat. But, that was hard when someone was staring at you. I literally waited for five minutes, the entire table washed in silence, laughing on the inside at our show. Finally I threw my spoon down and turned to him.

"Can you stop staring at me?" I hissed.

James sighed, "What? I can't put my arm around you, sniff your hair, hug you, and now your depriving me of even _looking_ at you. I'm beginning to give up on finding the side of you that thinks I'm candy." Gale and Nico chuckled, and I stood up and strode out of the cafeteria.

"Wait! Penny!" James called, following me. By the time I was out of the cafeteria and half way to my room, he was still following me. I spun around and looked at him. "Come on Penny, I'm just teasing you," he said, almost bumping into me.

"James, you've been teasing me for the past_week_."

James looked down at his feet, then quickly, his face snapped up, he pulled me into him, and kissed me.

His lips crashed down on mine, his tongue pushing it's way into my mouth and exploring. His hand was on my back, supporting me, and if it hadn't been there I might have fallen from his pressure and my surprise. James pulled back from my lips but kept his hand on my back and his face close to his, his piercing blue eyes staring into mine, glittering. His eyes were seducing, full of mystery and secrets, full of passion and the vivaciousness inside of him. I stared at James for five seconds, then let out a rugged exhale and my lips pulled into a smile. James smirked back at me, and raised his eyebrow.

"So…I'm hotalicious man candy, right?" he asked. And this time, I burst out laughing.

"No James," I replied, shacking my head. Then I smiled at him and took his hand. "But close enough."


	25. Chapter 22 Renesmee

**Renesmee**

It was the day before the third challenge began, but I rose up from my cat-like sleep feeling energized and even happy. Waking up, of course, reminded me of my family, who couldn't sleep. I could, though I never felt tired. Sleeping just felt…nice. Climbing out of bed and looking in the mirror, I threw my hair back in a headband and slipped into some comfortable clothes. Again, that reminded me of my family, specifically Alice. She'd never approve of me wearing sweats or plainly throwing my hair back. Actually, she'd freak if I didn't even brush my hair. I sighed, missing her funny quirks and walked down to the cafeteria. I sat down with my canteen full of blood and began taking tiny sips from it. I was sure everyone found it weird that I didn't eat, but I couldn't have cared less. I was so absorbed in my drink and my thoughts that it took me five minutes to notice how silent everyone was. I looked up to see Nico, James, and Gale. Nico and James were looking around nervously while Gale was digging into his food.

"Hey, where's everyone else?" I asked. Obviously, this was the wrong question. Nico and James's faces fell.

"We don't know," Nico sighed.

"We haven't seen them all day," James agreed. Immediately my stomach turned and I felt sick. For a moment, my vision blurred and the noises around me turned to a steady hum, and my arms fell slack. Then everything cleared up again, everything except the sick terrible feeling inside of me.

"This isn't good," I whispered. "This isn't good at all."

As if on cue, Mr. Firdango entered the cafeteria, smiling. I had the thought of jumping up and tearing him to shreds, but I restrained myself. I pleaded that he'd just go to the lunch line for food or something normal, but of course, he came to our table and sat down.

"Good morning everyone," he said, still smiling brightly, as if it was a beautiful summer day and we were all going out on a peaceful picnic. I glared at him, refusing to answer.

"Where's Kate?" Nico asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"And Penny," James added, glaring at Mr. Firdango.

Mr. Firdango crossed his hands together and placed them on the table in front of us.

"Well, if you really want to get straight to business…"

"Yes, we do," Gale snapped. Inwardly, I smiled at Gale's behavior. He was the only one who had the guts to yell at Mr. Firdango to his face. But at the same time, he was careful. It gave me an odd respect for him.

Mr. Firdango sighed, and looked up at us.

"For each of you, I have taken away someone you care about. In our next challenge, you will be placed in something slightly, but not literally, resembling a maze, and whoever gets out first wins. You will have your own maze, along with the person I have taken from you, who will be in the maze waiting for you. You may choose to help them out of the maze with you, but it will slow you down. If you don't help them, they are automatically out of the games and will be sent home without you seeing them again. Mr. Firdango paused and smiled.

"In other words, Nico you have to go after Kate, James, you have the same for Penny, Renesmee, you'll be after Jacob, and Gale's stuck with CJ." I didn't hear anything after he said Jacob. Oh God, he had my Jacob.

"How," I whispered. "How did you get him?" Mr. Firdango just smiled at me.

"Oh, but instead of him being voted off, because, of course, he's not even in the competition, you just have the fear of never seeing him again." My blood boiled, and I was about to jump up and tear the bastard to shreds, but I froze when I heard him whisper in a voice too low to be heard by the others.

"_Touch me and you'll never see him again,"_his voice whispered in my head, threatening me. Frowning, I stiffened in my chair, but I still wanted nothing more than to tear his head off.

"What did you do to them?" Nico hissed, shaking, his voice a mask of hatred. I could tell he too was trying not to jump at the old man.

"Oh and James, not only do you have Penny to go after, but your old friend Roxanne," Mr. Firdango added. The name meant nothing to me, but James's face turned white and he stood up, his hands clenching the table.

"No," he growled, "no, no, no. What did you do to her?" James picked up an apple from his food tray and threw it, and it hit Mr. Firdango right in the head. To my dismay, and James's obvious anger, Mr. Firdango was unfazed by it.

"See you all tomorrow," he said standing up and smiling, then turned and walked out the way he came.

"How did that not affect him?" Nico whispered.

"What?" I asked, frowning at him.

"The apple just hit him straight in the head. He should have been hurt by it. But he didn't even seem to realize it hit him," Nico explained.

"Maybe he was affected by it and he just didn't realize it," I shrugged. "It could have hit his memory circuit or whatever."

James just frowned, still looking at the apple, then he turned sharply and strode away. Nico raised shakingly and slowly walked away, as if in a daze. I looked across the table at Gale, who was looking at me pitifully, understandingly. Shaking myself, I raised and walked away to my room to deal with the information I just found out.


	26. Chapter 23 James

**James**

I was dropped off into the arena, and in front of me there was a road. Literally a road, minus the cars, just a path to tell me where to go. And to make everything else just a little more obvious, there were _signs_ pointing to each path when I came to a fork in the road. I chose the direction to go straight to win. Screw Penny and whoever else might be there. If she didn't make it out, it wasn't _my_ problem. If her secret were told, it wouldn't affect me. I had to win this, to keep _my_ secret. Not hers.

Five minutes of walking, and I don't know what happened, but I stopped. I stood there for a minute, before I growled at my stupidity and turned around and ran to go the other way.

I walked for five minutes before I came to an end, then it stopped, and I stopped, not knowing what else to do.

"Hello James. We've been expecting you." I turned to find a man in a white suit standing, rolling on the balls of his feet, his hands behind his back.

"Oh?" I asked, immediately pissed off. He had been _expecting me_?

"I knew you would come," he smiled. Ok, that pissed me off a billion times more. Oh yea, he just knew me so well, he just _knew_ I would come. I almost snapped at him and turned to leave, but he went on. "And I'm very glad you did."

Immediately, as if a light had been snapped on, Penny and Roxanne appeared. Oh my god, Roxanne. She was…exactly like I remembered her.

I had dated a lot of girls, but Roxanne had been my first, and so far, last, serious girlfriend. If you had told me when I first met her that I would one day love her, I would have cracked up. I was more of a lover of tanned blondes, and Roxanne's auburn red hair and freckled light skin was unnatural to me. Actually, I specifically remember my friend telling me he thought she was hot, and I shoved his face in his food. (In my defense, it was hilarious.) But then I sat next to her in art class, an elective I unhappily got stuck with, and Roxanne was at my table. She was strong minded, and the first girl to tell me off and contradict me. Over the weeks, I came to have an odd respect for her. And eventually, I kissed her.

"_I'm telling you, I could get any girl in bed with me," I boasted, teasing Roxanne after she teased me about my new ex. Roxanne rolled her eyes._

"_Yea, any idiot girl."_

"_So, you're an idiot?" I asked. She snorted._

"_I'd get in bed with a monkey before you," she retorted._

"_You know you love me," I insisted._

"_If that makes you sleep better at night…" she said, laughing._

"_Oh, it does," I told her, waggling my eyebrows. Her eyes narrowed as she caught my drift._

"_James, you are so weir-" I cut her off before she could continue, pushing my lips onto hers. At first I saw her eyes widen, then she relaxed and closed them. I pulled away from her and smiled, searching her face .I didn't know why I had kissed her, but I had._

_Her lip curled up in a smile, then she walked away to her next class._

We dated for a year, which turned into two, which was especially surprising for me, since most of my girlfriends had only lasted a few months at the most. My family loved her, (that was a first, may I add,) her family liked me, (also a first) and we liked each other. She was the first girl I could actually talk to without getting bored. And she was the first person I actually cared about.

But then she dumped me.

In my defense, the girl was all over _me_, not me over _her_. It wasn't my fault I enjoyed it. And it was just kissing, and it barely lasted a minute. But Roxanne didn't see it that way. When she caught a blonde with curls kissing me at my best friend's birthday party, she dropped her glass and gasped, then strode away.

"Roxanne!" I called, running out after her, pushing through people to get to her. I followed her all the way outside, when she finally, but angrily, turned.

"_What?" she demanded._

"_Roxanne, I'm sorry."_

"_Yea, your sorry I caught you," she retorted, and I immediately felt worse. I hung my head in shame, and she began walking away again._

"_No! Roxanne, wait," I said, grabbing her arm. She looked at me angrily._

"I'm sorry. Look, it was our first time, and it didn't even last long. It doesn't mean anything, I swear-"

"_James, she's your fucking ex girlfriend. You expect me to believe it didn't mean anything?"_

_She was my ex? Immediately, bells went off in my head. Oh shit. She was the girl I broke up with the day before I kissed Roxanne. I opened my mouth to protest, but found I couldn't. Roxanne turned from me, and I took a deep breath._

"_Roxanne, please. I care about yo-"_

"_No James, you don't." I heard her take a deep breath, and she turned to me. "You don't care about me, or her, or any other girl you've ever dated. We're over James. I'm sorry, but I don't want to be in a relationship with someone who doesn't truly care, who's just in it for…. for…. the fun. Goodbye James."_

_She began walking away, and the weirdest feeling went through me. My body felt heavy, and my chest felt as if it would burst. I wanted so badly to call her back, to tell her how much I cared, to tell her I was sorry._

"_Roxanne," I called. She turned around and for a second, we looked at each other, and our entire past relieved itself. The first time I'd met her, laughing at my friend for thinking she was hot, the first time I kissed her, her meeting my parents, me meeting hers, every moment we spent, joke we shared, kiss we treasured._

"_It was fun while it lasted," I finished, and walked back inside to enjoy the party._

I looked up at Roxanne, her eyes filled with fear, silently begging me to help her. And then next to her: Penny. I just noticed they were both standing on a plank, a diving board like thing, which was over nothing.

"What is this?" I asked, confused. "How do I get them down?"

"Not them. One. You only get to keep one," the man told me. I frowned.

"What about the other one?"

"You kill them."

I stared at him, my eyes wide, for a long time, before I realized he wasn't going to respond to that. "What the fuck?"

"Come on James, you know how it works. You kill someone, then you get paid. That's your job, isn't it?" I winced.

Ok, yes, I killed for money. But I killed people that others hated, hated enough to pay me to kill them. People who had done bad things. I saw it more as a…community service, one that I got paid for. It was almost like, instead of them going to jail, I killed them, sparing the room in jail. But Roxanne and Penny were…different.

For one, I never killed girls.

For another, they had never done anything.

And third, I liked them both. Roxanne, even though I would never admit it out loud, and Penny, even though I just met her.

"You kill one, your payment is the other one will be returned to you." I stared at him, my eyes wide, before I turned back to Roxanne and Penny. Both were looking at me with fear in their eyes, Penny's trusting, and Roxanne's just… sad.

The man handed me two ropes, and I saw they were attached to the boards. I gasped; this was familiar.

The first horror movie I had ever seen had used a contraption just like this. A man was given the choice of saving one life: that of a young mans, or an old women's. He started off holding both of the strings, but once the contraption was turned on, they pulled at him in the opposite direction, to such an extreme he couldn't hold both, and he had to let go of one. The one he let go of ended up killing the man, who, as his face filled with the purest, although amusing, hatred, knives were thrust through him and blood splattered on the glass wall separating him from the man.

I had only seen the one scene, because my mom got mad once she caught me watching it and made me go upstairs, but it sparked a deep interest in me. Every time I thought of torture, death, killing, my stomach flipped, in a way that filled me with excitement, a crazy high better than drugs, the same crazy high girls brought on.

"Your choice," the man whispered, then all of a sudden, the ropes started pulling in opposite directions. I experienced what the man in the movie felt, the terrible feeling of your body almost being pulled in half. I tried to pull the ropes toward each other, but instead, they pulled me. I looked up for a second, and saw that the boards holding Penny and Roxanne up had dropped, and now they were hanging only by the ropes, those of which I hold, that were tied around their waist. Penny was shrieking, screaming, looking down at the ground bellow her and thrashing, while Roxanne just hung there, tears dripping down her beautiful face.

I wanted to save her, save them both, but I couldn't. It was too much. If I didn't drop one, I'd drop both.

So who did I drop?

I could drop Roxanne. The first girl I had cared about. I could drop Penny: I had only known her for a couple weeks, she was just some girl, someone I barely knew, who had a secret of their own.

I closed my eyes and let go of the rope. I heard a shriek, a moan, and a few moments latter, a body splattering. Then I opened my eyes to find Penny still there. I was shaking, and I barely registered the board coming back up, Penny safe. I dropped the rope as the man helped her down, staring at my hands. _Roxanne dumped__**you**__. Not you__**her**_, I told myself. If I had saved her, she would just walk away again.

Penny walked up to me, shaking, and then, crying out, she threw her arms around me, sobbing into my shoulder. Still frozen with shock, I slowly lifted my arm to rub her back in a minor attempt to comfort her. Penny pulled herself closer into me, and she pulled her face back enough to look at me.

She offered me a weak smile and said, "For a second there, I thought you were going to let me die." I smiled weakly, but when she placed her head in my neck again, my smile disappeared, too forced to last.

Behind her, I saw the man in the cream suit. But now, instead of cream, his suit was red.

A terrible, horrible, bright, red.

_She hasn't heard any of our conversation, nor will she remember Roxanne. You have made you're choice James. Here is your prize. Farewell._

"Me too," I whispered, too soft for her to hear, "me too."


	27. Chapter 24 Nico

**Nico**

I wandered in a land that looked like Kansas after a wildfire, the sky a dark color, the sun missing. Mr. Firdango had told us all before we had come in if we wanted to save our person to walk right, if we didn't, to go left. I wasn't sure how it would work without a path ensuring I would go straight, but whatever. I saw something in the distance, and not knowing what else to do, I walked toward it. It seemed miles away, but in less than five minutes I was there. I gasped when I saw it. It was a graveyard, more specifically, the graveyard I so long ago rose Minos from.

I looked around, then I saw her.

"Kate," I gasped. She was tied up to a post, hanging limply, her body filthy, her hair caked in mud, and her head hanging down. "Kate!" I screamed, running forward to her. I desperately tried to detach the ropes tying her up, but though they looked weak and old, when I touched them, they were stronger than metal. I lifted up her head gently with my hands and almost threw up when I saw her. There were scratches along her cheekbones, and the blood that had run from them was still there, dried up. Dark circles, so intense they looked as if someone had punched her, enclosed her eyes, which were closed. The wrinkles in her lip were cut open, as if someone was trying to make a design. All over here face were bruises. "Kate!" I screamed again, hoping to wake her. But of course, I didn't. Instead, I woke up something else.

"You're welcome." My head spun around to find a lady in a dark cloak looking toward me.

"What did you do to her?" I screamed. The figure walked closer, slowly, prowling like a cat did for its meal.

"Me? Nothing. I'm just helping you, son of Hades. Helping you kill her," she explained.

"What do you mean?" I gasped. The lady came closer. She touched my hand, and immediately, I dropped Kate. She smoothed my hair, sending a sick chill through me, then she touched my chin, and I sprang up. She pointed at something behind me, and I turned to find my sister, Bianca, lying there. My heart welled up, the most painful feeling going through me, threatening to kill me. She was lying on the floor, as if someone had nicely placed her there, her eyes closed and her body bruised.

"She used to look worse, you know," the lady spoke up, "but I'm fixing her. Bringing her back to life." I ran over to my sister and saw she was smiling peacefully.

"Oh my gods," I gasped. "Oh my gods." I sat with her for five minutes before I remembered where I was, what I was supposed to be doing.

"H-how are you bringing her back to life?" I asked, dreading the answer, realizing what it was even before she lifted her arm to point at Kate.

"You kill someone else."

Kate. Kate was dying, dying for my sister.

"No," I whispered. "Don't, please. Don't kill Kate. I…I…"

"You what, son of Hades?" she inquired. I looked over at Kate, hanging, bloody, and bruised.

"I love her," I whispered. "Please, please don't kill her. I love her." The lady just shook her head.

"You may love her, but you love your sister more. Trust me, you'll be happy when she dies and your sister is up and alive again. Family comes first, Nico. First, and last. Girlfriends can pick up and leave you, or fall in love again, but family? Family is forever." I didn't know how to respond to that, but luckily, I didn't have to.

"That's not true. His sister picked up and left _him_. Family isn't _always_ forever." Another figure in a dark cloak came forth, walking up to her sister. The two ladies squabbled for a while, but I wasn't paying them attention anymore. I watched as slowly, Kate became weaker, and Bianca became stronger.

"Please!" I shouted, shaking. "Stop it. Don't kill Kate."

"There's no way to stop it now. You love Bianca, and your love for her will bring her back to life," the first lady told me.

"No," I whispered.

"Yes," she insisted.

"There is one way to stop it," the second lady whispered to me.

I gulped. "How?"

"You have to stop loving Bianca."

"He can't do that," the first lady snapped. "That would take time. Years, decades, probably never."

"You could forget her," the second lady whispered.

"He won't do that," the first lady said, her lip curling.

I stared at Bianca for one minute, five, ten, trying to imagine forgetting about her. Forgetting about everything we had done, everything we had been through together, the bad and the good, forgetting everything she meant to me. I couldn't just forget it, forget her.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. I turned from her, too ashamed to look at her. "Make me forget her," I announced.

I heard one gasp, and the other one muttered, "told you so."

"Is that really what you want?" they both asked. I walked over to Kate, taking her face in my hands and tracing her lips with my finger.

"Yea," I whispered, and a single tear left my eye.

Slowly, I felt myself forgetting Bianca. Forgetting our memories, everything we had ever done together. Everything she had done for me, anything I had done for her. I looked over at her, her body slowly bruising, and saw…someone. Someone I knew, but didn't know at all.

Slowly, Kate's face and body healed, turning normal again.

And then, Kate's eyes opened.

"Nico?" she whispered. I stared at her, then my lips pulled into a grin, and I kissed her. She closed her eyes then opened them when I pulled away. She still looked weak, tired, but her face had healed, all but one cut which was quickly fading away.

"Nico where are we?"

"My darling secret, challenge number three." I forced myself to stand up, helping Kate up as well.

"We should get going," I whispered, and tugged at her arm, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. Despite my attempts, she scanned the area with her eyes, and finally they landed on the other girl.

"Nico, who's that?" she asked, her voice cracking, her eyes wide staring at the girl I forgot. "What are we doing here?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "Come on. Let's go."


	28. Chapter 25 Renesmee

**Renessmee**

Each step I shook violently, and my legs threatened to burst from under me. My lip was quivering, but I kept my head high and walked forward all the same. What I would find when I found my Jacob scared me more than anything. Who knew what crazy thing Mr. Firdango had planned up?

I walked from a barren wasteland into woods then a meadow, a very familiar meadow. It was our meadow: Jacob's and mine. The meadow we had often gone hunting, where when I was young, Jacob would play games with me to get me to drink. The meadow where he took me to relax: read, learn, play. The meadow where he first kissed me.

"_Jacob, did you ever imprint?" I asked. Jacob looked up from the piece of wood he was playing with, sculpting._

"_Why do you ask that?" I hesitated._

"_Sam imprinted. So did Paul. And Quill, Jared, even_Leah_imprinted." Jacob noted the sneer in my voice when I said Leah's name, and he frowned at me disapprovingly._

"_Don't be mean to Leah. I know you don't like her, but she's really a great person. And she's been through a lot."_

"_Sure," I snorted, then lowered my voice to a grumble. "We both know you only let her stay with you because of Seth." Perhaps Jacob chose to ignore me, or maybe he truly wasn't listening, because he didn't say anything. Usually, he snapped at me, furious when I dared insult her. Honestly, I didn't understand why he liked her. Seth, I could see. Seth was a good guy. I just didn't like his sister._

"_You still didn't answer my question," I spoke up._

"_We should be heading back," Jacob said, getting up and walking over to help me up._

"_Jacob," I whined._

"_Yes Nessie," he answered. I placed my hands on my hips, frowning at him. _

"_You haven't answered my question!"_

"_What was it?" he asked. I sighed and rolled my eyes._

"_Did you ever imprint on anyone?" Jacob sighed._

_Without looking at me, he whispered, "Yea."_

"_No way!" I squealed, clapping my hands together and jumping up, acting like a two year old, despite my maturity age of 14. "Who?"_

"_Someone," Jacob grumbled. "Come on. We have to go."_

"_Not until you tell me who," I protested. Jacob didn't do anything, just looked at the ground. "Come on Jacob!" I whined. He looked up at me, his lip quavering._

"_I'm not supposed to tell you yet," he whispered. I stepped closer to him._

"_Why not?" He hung his head again, and I lifted his chin with my hand. "Don't ignore me Jacob Black." Suddenly, strong warm lips crashed down on mine, pulling me into the sweetest, most mind-blowing kiss. He pulled away, his eyes wide, looking at me and my reaction. My shocked expression turned into a smug one, and I pulled him closer to me and kissed him._

I stopped, finding Jacob at the other end of my paradise. He wasn't captive, caught, just…standing there and waiting for me. He spotted me and jumped up.

"Nessie!" he called. I gasped.

"Oh my goodness…Jacob, oh Jacob!" I ran toward him, straight into his arms. He caught me and hugged me, kissing the top of my head again and again.

"I missed you," he whispered. I looked up at him, my lips millimeters from his.

"I missed you too," I replied.

"Look, how sweet," we sprang apart and turned to find a man looking at us, rolling on the balls of his feet, his hands behind his back.

"What a shame I have to ruin it," he said lackadaisically. I can only describe him as oily, with long hair with too much project, and the reddest eyes I had ever seen.

"Are you hungry Nessie?" he crooned, just like Jacob used too. Quicker than I could react, which is saying something, he had Jacob against him, his arm around his neck. And then I noticed his hands. He had the longest, dirtiest, most disgusting fingernails I had ever seen, his hands popping with veins. Slowly, he ran his finger down Jacob's neck, and I saw a drop of blood. On instinct, I held my breath.

"Come on Nessie," he crooned. "Now we both know you can't last long holding your breath." He was right, of course, I had never been able to hold my breath. It complicated things, a lot, but I had so far avoided any major incident

"Nessie," he sung, and my lungs were bursting, begging to breathe again, telling me to just listen. The blood running down Jacob's skin looked so appetizing…

Another cut.

"Eat your food. Be a good girl," oh my goodness, he was saying the same exact things Jacob had to get me to eat. The scene transformed into the meadow, and the man was really Jacob, Jacob really a dead deer, and Jacob was coaxing me to eat.

"_I'm not hungry," I protested. "I think you're afraid. Too afraid you'll loose to me in an eating contest."_

"_That's ridiculous," I told Jacob. He smiled at me._

"_Ok, then lets do this. You stand on one end of the meadow, I'll stand on the other. When I say go, we'll run and see who can suck the blood out of this the fastest first. Deal?"_

_I nodded my head, excited for a game. I loved games._

"_Ready…_

_Set…._

_Go!"_

My vision changed to me hovering over Jacob instead of a mere deer, Jacob transformed into the creepy man, and my eyes widened as I saw a bunch of scratches all over Jacob, his body bleeding.

"Stop it!" I shrieked, and the man cackled as Jacob let out a scream as he cut him once again. A fire of anger bubbled up inside of me, and I lunged at the man, but then he was gone. I tried again, and again, but it didn't work, and every moment Jacob was getting bloodier, the smell more tempting by the second.

"Please!" I screamed, falling to my knees. He just cackled again, and with another cut, it was too much.

I sprang forward at Jacob and bit his arm, satisfying my thirst. Oh my goodness, human's tasted so much better than animals. Who wanted to suck bambi when they could have people?

I felt, more than saw, the man behind me, and I barely heard him cackle.

But I did.

And hearing it, I became furious. He was making me kill the man I loved.

I turned on him and sprang up, snapping his neck with my teeth.

I watched the evil light drain from his eyes, and I watched the blood flow out of his skin.

Just as he deserved.


	29. Chapter 26 Penny

**Penny**

James and I were ushered into a room after we returned from the third challenge. I would specify exactly where we returned from, but oddly, I couldn't remember a single thing. I couldn't remember where we had been, what we had been doing, or who was there. All I knew was that James had saved me.

We found Gale stretched out on a couch, relaxed and smiling. Nico and Kate were sitting down, faces stricken, Kate leaning into Nico. Normally I would have felt subconsciously jealous. I was one of those girls who dreamed about finding true love in their life. And to be even more honest, the perfect couple in my mind has always been my parents, despite their separation. But now I realized with pride that I felt no negativity whatsoever, with someone as amazing as James holding my hand...

James turned to me and smiled, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Want to go sit down?" he asked. I nodded distractedly, and James led me over to a loveseat. Man, he was sitting pretty close to me, our thighs slightly touching. Not to mention James's arms around the couch, one of them almost behind my neck…

Renesmee ran into the room, breaking me from my thoughts. Mr. Firdango followed behind her, smiling. Renesmee looked at him uncertainly, then went to go sit down, looking down at her feet. I frowned; her eyes looked weird. Maybe she was having an allergic reaction, or she had been crying. I wondered what would have happened to provoke that, and if what James had saved me from had been nearly as bad…

"All right, everyone, welcome back," Mr. Firdango said as we all settled down. "Now, all of you but CJ made it back." We all turned to Gale, and he shrugged.

"I don't care what happens to her," he said.

"As Gale made it back first, normally, he'd be given the free pass to the next round. But as CJ didn't make it back at all, well, as I said before, she's automatically out." Smiles passed around the room. Mr. Firdango looked back up at us through his twinkling eyes, a stern amused look in them.

"But, if you want, we _could_ allow her back in for the voting…."

"NO!" we all practically shouted. He smiled, and straightened.

"Good. I knew you would choose well." I looked up at James, and he smiled down at me.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I whispered back, a smile spreading on my face. Around the room, everyone was smiling, cheering, and celebrating their victory.

"We got through," he grinned.

"Guess I'll have to try again next round." James gave me a queer look.

"Try again to what?"

"Get you out, of course," I winked at him. James smiled at me devishly.

"You would never want to do that," he reprimanded teasingly.

"Oh? What makes you think that?"

Instead of actually answering me, James kissing me.


	30. Chapter 27 Kate

**Kate**

I should have been happy. Nico and I had passed the third challenge, my secret was safe, CJ was out, and I had time to rest before the fourth challenge. But, I wasn't. I kept thinking about that girl in the arena, the dead one.

Now that everyone knew they were safe, they all went off to relax, before it was publicly announced that CJ was off, and what her secret was. Nico took my hand and led me to the game room. For a while, we played a game of Ping-Pong, which I sucked at, whilst Nico was amazing at, so, of course, he beat me. I sat down on a nearby couch, observing the room, my mind wandering. What had happened today? Who was that girl? How did Nico know her? I thought for a while, relieving what had happened to myself over and over.

"Kate?" I looked up to see Nico sitting next to me, a worried look on his face.

"Who was she?" I whispered, then hung my head.

"Who was…" I heard Nico sigh as he understood what I was saying. "Kate, I honestly can't remember."

"What happened to her?" I asked, raising my head to look at him, my lip quivering. "Was she…?" I swallowed, not wanting to think about it. _Was she dead?_ Nico sighed and laid back on the couch.

"She's been dead a while." I opened my mouth to ask why she had been there, but he continued. "I can't remember who she is. That was part of the deal." What? "I found you, dying, and someone told me that I was dying to bring the other girl back to life. She was…I think she was my sister. I remember that much. I told her I didn't want you to die to bring her back to life, and she told me if I forgot the other girl, you wouldn't die."

"How is that possible?" I asked, astonished. "How can you bring someone back to life?" Nico's face hardened, and I decided to drop it, despite my extreme curiosity. "You shouldn't have done that," I told him gently. He turned and looked at me, his face disgusted.

"You think I should have left you to die?" I bit my lip and swallowed, then slowly nodded my head.

"Kate, why he hell would I do that?" I looked up at him, then immediately looked back down.

"Never mind," I whispered, then stood up. I began to walk away and out of the room, and Nico followed me, calling my name. I barely noticed, and I kept walking, and then ran, and I almost made it to my room before he caught up and stopped me.

"Kate, what's wrong?" he asked me. I didn't look at him. I didn't know what had triggered it, but suddenly everything I had done in the past crashed down on me, threatening to drown me in guilty thoughts. His sister shouldn't have died for me. I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve him.

"I'm sorry Nico. But I don't deserve it."

"Kate, what the hell are you talking about?"

"I don't deserve you," I whispered, more to myself than to him. I hadn't expected him to hear it, but he did. I left into my room, and he followed me. My hands were grabbed, and he turned me toward him. Taking my face in his hands, he looked at me, his face stricken.

"Kate," he began, but I cut him off.

"My sister died a year ago," I told him. "She had cancer, and I would have done anything to keep her alive. Anything. But we didn't have enough money to help her. No one would accept me for a job. My parents were already working 24/7, with barely enough to keep our house together, barely enough to eat. Someone told me where he knew I could find a job. I didn't know what he meant, so I agreed to it. Then I realized he….he…" I couldn't continue. Nico was staring at me, his face gone from angry to curiously shocked. Seeing that I was upset, he hugged me, and I burst out sobbing. God, why was I acting so hormonal? I pulled away from him. If he knew what I had done, he wouldn't want me. He wouldn't like me anymore. He wouldn't want to talk to me again.

"I did something bad, Nico. I did something bad to be able to pay for my sister. And I did it all for nothing. She died, and I sinned."

"I don't care," he whispered. "I don't care what you did, Kate."

"I was a stripper!" I almost shouted, then turned and buried my face in my hands, ashamed I had uttered what I had done. Oh no, it was over. Now he knew what I had done, and he would go tell everyone, they would vote me off for being such a disgusting person….

I gasped when I felt him hug me, then gently kiss my head.

"I hate myself," I sobbed, my breaths heaving. "It was the most disgusting, filthy thing that I could ever imagine."

"Kate?" he whispered, when I didn't continue. He unclenched my hands from my face, then turned me to face him. "I still like you," he whispered, then he reached down slowly and kissed me.

He didn't hate me?


	31. Chapter 29 Gale

**Gale**

We all of us stood in the room, waiting for CJ to leave. CJ was sitting down, her head hanging. We all sat, waiting for Mr. Firdango to come on the TV screen. And he did.

"CJ Allen has been disqualified, due to her not making it out of the arena."

We all turned and stared at her, not disguising our interest in whatever her secret was. I personally hoped it was something big and law breaking. Something that would hurt her more than Natalie's did to her.

"And now, for her secret."

Suddenly, CJ jumped up.

"Stop! He cant tell everyone my secret! Please!"

"Too late sparkle princess," I muttered. Everyone watched as she jumped about and screamed like the crazy person she was.

"Please," she begged. "Give me another chance!"

But nobody did.

"CJ Allen sold her soul to the devil in return for love from everybody, in return for always getting her way."

I felt my eyes widen. "You, WHAT?"

"You don't understand," she whispered.

"Hell we don't. And we never will," I answered.

"Dude, you sold your soul to the devil?" James asked her. He snorted. "I can't believe I ever talked to you."

"How do you think it felt!" she suddenly screamed. "It wasn't fair!" Her hair was wild, her eyes crazed, her face stricken. "Everybody loved Natalie. Natalie was the smart one, the pretty one, the funnier one, the better one, everyone loved Natalie." CJ's face turned angry. "Not me. I was just Natalie's stupid friend. And then Thomas came. I loved him. I always had. And he asked Natalie out, not me. Her. I would have done anything to get him." God, this girl was pathetic. She did something like **that** for some…guy?  
>"You did all this for a guy?" I asked. "You're pathetic." She turned to me, her face furious.<p>

"Don't pretend you don't know how it feels!" She screamed, then her face turned sad, to a whisper. "Don't you know how it feels to fall in love?" Her face constricted with anger again, her eyes glaring at me.

"It's your fault I'm off," she whispered. "Your fault." And with that, she was taken off of My Darling Secret for forever.


End file.
